


Asking for Trouble

by toughchoices



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, The Wedding Date, fake date, not first person- promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:53:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22095175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toughchoices/pseuds/toughchoices
Summary: Wedding Date NeededI am a bridesmaid in my best friend from college’s wedding in a few weeks. I told her I was going to bring a date because my ex is also in the wedding party. It is a week-long trip, 6/18-6/24, with all expenses covered. Compensation will be discussed. Email with real inquiries only and describe yourself.-Do not contact me with unsolicited offers.
Relationships: Tobin Heath/Alex Morgan
Comments: 200
Kudos: 415





	1. The Lead Up

**Author's Note:**

> The texts from Tobin are R. justified but I know that it might be hard to decipher depending on the screen size so she also has an * before each text

Alex reads the listing over one last time before pressing submit.

**Wedding Date Needed**

I am a bridesmaid in my best friend from college’s wedding in a few weeks. I told her I was going to bring a date because my ex is also in the wedding party. It is a week-long trip, 6/18-6/24, with all expenses covered. Compensation will be discussed. Email with real inquiries only and describe yourself.

  * Do not contact me with unsolicited offers.

* * *




{1 week later}

Alex looks through her emails, deleting all but one she had received four days ago.

Hi,

I saw your post looking for a date and I hope I can be that date. My name is Jordan Myers. I’m 30 and a personal trainer at a CrossFit gym that I own with some friends. This allows me to set my own schedule so I am able to take the week off for the wedding. I believe my job makes me very personable and hope I can make a good impression on you and your friends. I did some acting when I first got here so I should be able to pull off the kind of bf you need me to be. I’m sure you have a lot of other replies so I hope you see this and respond. I would love to meet up to talk this over. We could possibly get together for coffee. 

Jordan

PS Here’s my insta.

Alex sighs, Jordan isn’t bad but she was hoping for good at the very least. After scrolling through a few of his pictures, Alex can tell he’s the type of guy that lives in the gym regardless of his job. He is the typical, super buff guy with maybe, _maybe_ , a few inches on her. Alex generally didn’t care about height but in this instance, she had wanted someone tall so that when she was wearing heels she still had to look up and also so that Servando had to look up at him. She started to type out a response.

Hi Jordan,

My name is Alex. Sorry, I didn’t want to put that out there for the whole world. I’m 27 and work in finance. Text me at 310 630-2200 so we can get to know each other a little better and maybe set up a meeting for that coffee.

Alex Morgan

Alex had given the internet a week and this was the last day. She groans and presses send. _Maybe I got mono. No that sounds like I got a PG13 STD._ She moves her mouse to the upper corner, about to log off when a new message pops up.

**Fake Date to Your Best Friend’s Wedding** Greetings mysterious stranger. Allow…

Alex stares at it for a second, skeptical of the introduction but _What the hell?_ She moves her mouse back and clicks on the new email.

Greetings mysterious stranger.

Allow me to introduce myself. First, my name is Tobin Heath. Tobin was my grandmother’s maiden name and somehow became my first name. It’s pronounced toe-bin. You didn’t really describe what you were looking for and I will understand if I don’t fit the bill. Also, I’m not sure how old you are or the age range you are looking for but I am a newly minted 29. I always find this describe yourself part of interviews awkward but I’ll do my best.

Currently, I work as a writer for ESPN, focusing mainly on soccer but I also follow the other LA teams, especially during the offseason. My job has quite a few perks since I can get into most of the games around the city and the country, but that can also make my life a little hectic but I love it.

I was born in New Jersey and lived there until I went to college. I’m the third child of four, two older sisters and a younger brother. I started playing soccer at age four and fell in love with the game. I got a few scholarship offers and chose UNC because of its program and Anson (the coach). To set up the next part I have to explain that UNC’s campus, like most other DI schools, is large so I used a skateboard to get around. During preseason of my senior year, I was going down a hill and a car blew through a stop sign and hit me. I broke a few bones and long story short, my playing days were over. 

I had been getting a degree in Communications while minoring in journalism. I hadn’t expected to actually have to use my degree since I planned on going pro but that was off the table. I still wanted to be involved with sports and was able to get a job writing for this small, college sports website that is now defunct. 

First, I was assigned to cover my team as we moved on through the NCAA tournament, eventually winning for the third time in my four years (humble brag). The job was supposed to be for a month or two but they asked if I could continue covering UNC events. I went to as many games as I could and was even able to get into the press booth for some of the March Madness basketball games. That’s where I met one of the writers for Fox Sports. That relationship got me a job writing random fluff pieces for Fox after graduation. During this time I kinda bounced around as the seasons changed along with the need. After two and a half years, I made the move to ESPN and LA. I’ve been an official LA transplant for three and a half years. 

That’s kind of a skeleton outline of myself but I assume you want to know more of the juicy details. I am competitive and driven in work and life. I hate mornings, the only thing that makes them bearable is coffee, really strong coffee. I’ve been told I have an infectious smile and I generally have a happy demeanor. I don’t like scary movies but I love adventures and meeting new people. 

I have actually done the fake date thing more than a few times. The first was for a friend who wanted to make an ex jealous. She then told another friend who needed a date. I’ve then had people come to me through the grapevine in need of dates. I’ve probably done around twenty totally. I wouldn’t say I’m the best actor considering LA is flooded with them but I was never found out and am up for anything.

Again, I know I might not be what you had in mind for this date but if I am, I’d be happy to accompany you. I’m happy to answer any further questions you might have. You can either email me back or text/call me. My number is 860-506-5571.

Also, you didn’t ask for this but I feel like you should know what I look like before committing. I’m not a big fan of pictures (hence why I do my best to stay away from any and all on-air pieces). I tried taking a few selfies before sending this but hated all of them. Instead, here’s a picture of me with my family from last Christmas. I’m the one in the middle. 

Sincerely,

Tobin Heath

Alex scrolls down to the picture and taps it to make it larger. There are 6 people in it. The two on the end are older, seemingly the parents. The four younger adults all stand in between in a diamond shape. Tobin’s arms are wrapped around two women that look related. _Probably his sisters._ The woman standing in front, Alex isn’t sure of since she is much tanner than the other five. Alex zooms in slightly to see Tobin better. _Looks a little young but cute face. Let’s hope he’s normal._

She starts to type a reply but it all sounds wrong so she decides to just send a repeat her message to Jordan with a few tweaks.

Hi Tobin,

My name is Alex. Sorry, I didn’t want to put that out there for the whole world in case someone I know saw it. I’m 27, 28 in a month so your age is perfect. I work in finance, dealing with companies that purchase other companies. I quite enjoyed your life story, far more fascinating than mine. I feel like you could be a good candidate, especially because you actually have experience. I didn’t know there was a market for this sort of thing. I would like to talk with you a little more to make sure we get along and such. I will text you tomorrow. My number is 310 630 2200. I look forward to getting to know you.

Alex Morgan

Alex presses send before she can second guess herself then heads to bed. 

The next morning, Alex sends a carefully planned text while she waits for her morning coffee to finish brewing.

**Hi Tobin. This is Alex. I sent you an email last night about being my wedding date in case you haven’t seen it yet. Hope I’m not waking you. Text me when you’re not busy.**

She gets a reply a few hours later. She turns her attention from her computer screen and looks down at her phone. She slowly reaches for it, not wanting to seem eager even though no one can see her.

***Hello stranger. I sleep like the living dead. It takes a lot more than a single text to wake me but I appreciate the sentiment. I’m pretty free to talk until this evening for the Dodgers game so you can start digging now if you’d like.**

Alex isn’t sure what to say so she goes with the truth.

**I know very little about sports.**

***I don’t think that will really matter. Most girls I have dated, real or fake, could care less about sports. Honestly most actually end up hate sports since it makes my schedule so hectic. I know I probably shouldn’t tell you that when I’m trying to sell myself but I think you should know the whole picture.**

**What made you respond to my post?**

***As I said, I like adventures and meeting new people. I thought it would be fun. I had been looking for a pair of sneakers when I came across your post and it spoke to me. I had planned on taking a week off around that time since there’s a bit of a break and I love to travel. Where is the wedding by the way?**

**NYC**

***The big apple. My old stomping grounds.**

***I actually have to fly there Friday for a week for two soccer games and a baseball game. I would almost suggest staying there if you picked me but I have to cover another game back in LA first.**

They continue talking, mostly about Tobin’s job, which leads to Alex getting very little work done as they go back and forth. Alex decides to be bold when she notices it’s past her usual lunch time

**I’m going to get lunch soon. Would you like to join me?**

***I’d love to but I’m actually about to head to the stadium in a few minutes. I like to get there early to avoid traffic and get my stuff set up.**

When she returns from lunch, Alex receives a text from an unknown number. She moves from her conversation with Tobin to the new text. 

****Hey Alex. My schedule is pretty flexible, let me know when you want to meet up and we can discuss numbers and logistics.**

Alex rolls her eyes at his assumption and scrolls back to Tobin’s text. She’s already positive that she and Tobin get along, and possibly after this whole wedding thing they could try being real friends and potentially lead to real dating, or maybe just skip the friends part. She’s fine with both. 

***So this might sound weird but do you mind sending me a picture. Nothing fancy, I’d just like to be able to put a face to this dark silhouette image I have constructed of you. I feel like it’s only fair since you know what I look like.**

Alex bites her lip, she knows guys generally think she’s good looking but she’s still nervous sending a picture. She looks through the ones she has on her phone, finding one taken a few months back from a fundraiser she had attended. She sends it then quickly puts her phone down and looks at her monitor. She slowly types numbers into the appropriate boxes because her eyes spend more time on her phone than on the chart in front of her. 

Finally, after what feels like an eternity but was really only a few minutes, Alex gets a response.

***When I said send me a picture, I meant of you. Not a model you found off the internet.**

Alex's cheeks heat up slightly as she types out a reply.

**Thank you. That’s very kind. You’re not half bad yourself by the way. And you do have a great smile. I meant to thank you for sending me a picture of your face. I got way too many dick pics.**

***I’ll never understand why men feel the need to send those types of pictures. Dicks are kind of weird looking, right?**

**I think we have differing opinions based on preferences but I agree that pictures don’t do it for me and they’re not necessary to send to strangers.**

After a while, Tobin has to focus on the game so Alex decides it’s time to head home but first she should text Jordan back. It takes her a little while to figure out the nicest way to say ‘thanks but no thanks’ but she is able to settle on something that doesn’t make her cringe.

**Thank you so much for offering to help but the position has been filled. Good luck with your gym. It’s very impressive. I hope you have a nice night.**

Once she’s home, she starts to make dinner and glances over at the black television screen. She puts the knife down and replaces it with the remote. For the first time in her life, she turns on the television and puts on a baseball game.

**Are you an impartial observer or do you support the teams you follow**

It takes about ten minutes for her to get a response and Alex assumes the reply is only due to the switch on the field.

***I guess I root for the LA teams because I know most of the guys on all of the teams. Unless they’re playing one of my NY teams then it’s harder for me to pick a side. Regardless, I try not to cheer during a game but sometimes I can’t help it if it’s a good play or something. Afterward, if it’s a really good game I probably will. Either way, my writing has to be impartial so I try to keep my cheering on the inside.**

**Are you friends with any of the players?**

Alex plates her dinner while waiting for a response and sits down on the couch. She tries to focus on the game but soon her very limited baseball knowledge is tested and the announcers don’t explain a call well enough.

**What’s a bawk?**

***I’m friendly with the players. We joke about stuff but I wouldn’t say friends for the most part. Do you mean the noise a bird or chicken makes?**

**No. I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure it’s a baseball term.**

***I think you mean a balk. The word is a combination of ball and walk. Are you watching this game? I thought you didn’t like baseball.**

**I don’t but I needed something to watch while I eat dinner. So what is it?**

***Simple explanation, it’s when a pitcher makes it seem like he’s going to pitch and then throws to a base instead. It has to do with where their feet are and how they are positioned if it is a balk or not but if it is the base runners get to advance.**

**Okay. I feel like that’s made up and not real. I’ve never heard of it before**

Alex finishes dinner and cleans up before she gets a response. 

***You don’t watch sports. How would you have heard of it?**

**Semantics.**

***How are you enjoying the game?**

**Won’t say this is my favorite sport but I’m doing work at the same time so it’s fine to have in the background.**

***I’ll admit watching it on tv isn’t as fun as in person and this game isn’t all that exciting. Closer games, ones with rivalries, or during the playoffs are a lot better. Baseball isn’t my favorite to cover during the regular season but Galaxy’s away and LAFC is off.**

**So I don’t mean for this to come out too strong or whatever but I think we’ve been getting along really well and if you are still interested...Would you like to be my date to my friends wedding?**

Alex is worried about how long it takes Tobin to answer but the two players on base make Alex assume it has to do with the game and not her.

***Thought you would never ask. I would be honored. Do you think we could discuss logistics tomorrow though? It’s hard to focus on both. We could meet for lunch if you’re available. I’m free all day.**

**That sounds perfect. I’ll text you when I get in tomorrow to confirm but I normally take my lunch around 12:30.**

***Sounds good. I look forward to it.**

Alex puts her phone down and tries to finish up the work she should have done during the day. She heads to bed during the top of the eighth inning. She debates sending one final text but decides against it.

The next morning, Alex walks into her office and plops into her chair. She presses the button on her computer to turn it on and takes her phone out while waiting for it to boot up. She’s about to text Tobin when there’s a knock on the door frame. Alex looks up to see her boss. She places her phone down and stands. “Good morning.”

“Morning. Just wanted to let you know the reps from Noosa got in last night. We’re taking them out to lunch around one. Make sure you’re up to date on their numbers by then.”

“I thought they weren’t coming until next week.”

“They were supposed to but with the merge coming up, they got a little spooked by some of the numbers on their end and decided to move it up.”

“Alright. I basically finished their stuff up last night so I’ll look it over again. Let me know when you’re ready to leave.”

“That’s perfect. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Alex groans as she picks up her phone and sits back down.

**I’m super sorry about this but I’m going to have to cancel our lunch. A client came in a week early so I’m going to have to babysit them for the next few days.**

She gets a response as she starts pulling up the screens she’ll need on her dual monitors. 

***All good. We can do logistics through text or email. I just didn’t want to do it during the game last night. Have a good lunch.**

**Thanks. I’ll text you tonight. I need to actually get some work done unlike yesterday.**

Alex focuses on work the rest of the day and is mentally exhausted by the time she walks into her apartment. She walks to the freezer and pulls out one of her premade meals. She puts it into the oven and grabs her laptop. She types the flight information into a blank email. She also adds the wedding itinerary, website link, and other pertinent information as to where they will be staying. 

**Hey. I just sent you an email. Can you look over the flight info and make sure those flights work for you? I wanna get the tickets tonight if possible. I’m also really tired so can we discuss everything else later.**

***Both flights look good. I do expect coffee though if you expect me to take a 5:45 AM flight.**

**I will get you a large coffee. Do you prefer window or aisle?**

***Window if you’re offering but I don’t mind the middle either if that’s better for you**

**Window it is. I can sit in the middle. Gives you more room to sleep.**

The two continued texting whenever they had a few free minutes but their schedules never work out for them to actually meet up. All conversation has been limited to text or email. Alex sits on her couch, bored due to the lack of communication she was receiving from Tobin. Although, to Tobin’s credit, she was on a flight to New York City.

Alex looks over the numbers Tobin had given her.

Upfront: $1,500

Per Day: $1,000 = $7000 total

Upon return: $1,500 

$10,000 Total

She looks over her budget then sends Tobin a confirmation email to confirm the payment.

**I know you’re probably gonna try to sleep when you land to try and stay with the time difference and everything but I sent you an email with the payment stuff. Look it over when you have a chance tomorrow.**

Tobin responds to Alex’s text when she lands but Alex doesn’t keep the conversation going so Tobin can bond with her family. Alex knows Tobin is going to see her sister and nephew the next day so she focuses on work instead. It isn’t until the following evening that Alex texts her.

**How was the game?**

***Awful. A ton of awful calls. A straight red off of a dive. Guy didn’t even touch him. A handball goal. I’m surprised that there wasn’t a fistfight based on how many times the teams were getting in each other's faces.**

**How was your home cooked meal last night?**

***Well those are amazing. My mom makes really good lasagna so I had that for dinner and breakfast this morning.**

***Oh, also I was thinking and realized I have no idea what I’m supposed to wear next week.**

**It’s mostly casual events where I'm wearing a nice shirt and shorts. There's I think two semi casual things and I have either cocktail or summer dresses for those. The rehearsal dinner and wedding are more fancy though. I'll look at the itinerary and send you a proper list.**

***Should I wear a dress too? I have a few but I might need to go shopping. My sister could take me tomorrow.**

**You can do business casual for those and the rehearsal and you don’t need a tux but a nice suit for the wedding**

***So no dresses?**

**Let’s just keep it to one of us wearing dresses**

***Whatever you say boss lady.**

**We should probably come up with some stories about our relationship don’t ya think? Like for when people ask.**

***Yeah. I was actually thinking about that on the flight over. I came up with a few ideas. I’ll email you the list. I think I thought of a decent one for how we met but if you totally hate it that’s cool too.**

**I have a few too but they kind of all suck. I’m down to hear yours.**

***Okay. So you came to a game (the sport would depend on how long we’ve been together). I saw you and just had to get your number. I got you into the press box, on the field after the game, in the locker room. You were just having none of it but I somehow got your number… maybe from a friend.**

***How does that sound so far?**

**Not bad. I was thinking like 4 months since that’s not crazy long but enough that I might bring you to a wedding. Why would I be at a game though? I really don’t like sports.**

***What if you were there for a work thing? A client got you and your coworkers great seats and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Also 4 months could be basketball. That’s inside with air conditioning and honestly Lakers’ games are more of a fashion show than anything else. I could write 5 stories about the celebs and wannabes that have courtside seats at a single Lakers’ game.**

**I like that but can I tweak it a little?**

***Of course. That was just a thought. We could have just met at a bar. It’s whatever you think will make you look the best.**

**Would you ever go to a game just to sit in the stands?**

***Not really. Especially not a Lakers game but we’re pretending we’re dating so anything is possible. I could say I was going with a friend for their birthday. We could pretend I have friends right? That seems believable... I think.**

**You’re ridiculous. Okay so we got seated next to each other and you had kinda been talking to me throughout the game or whatever. Flirting. Trying to explain things to me but really just hitting on me and I was being nice but not like fully talking back. During a timeout or something the kiss cam comes on and we get picked. You look at me kind of dumbstruck. It’s near the end of the game so I’m a few drinks in and grab your face and just kiss you.**

***Wow. So what? I’m such a good kisser that you wanted to keep me around?**

**Yeah pretty much. I gave you my number after. We texted for a bit. You asked me out. We started dating.**

***Are we going to kiss?**

**I never really thought about it. I don't know. What did you do with other people?**

***I didn’t do it with my friend but everyone else I have. I don’t upcharge for it so they were all fine with it makes it more real. I usually would let them do the first one but after that, if I thought it was appropriate I would, especially for the instances I was there to make someone else jealous. I can be super handsy if you need me to be.**

**I guess that makes sense but nothing too serious. Do you upcharge for other things?**

***Sex.**

**What?**

***If you want to have sex that costs extra and that’s upfront.**

**That won’t be necessary.**

***Have we had sex?**

**Excuse me?**

***I don’t mean will we actually have sex. I mean like I assume our characters have but I’m just asking because people that have had sex act differently than those who haven’t.**

**Oh. Then yeah I guess.**

***How much detail are your friends going to ask both you and me?**

**They are not shy in the slightest. They will ask both of us anything and everything.**

***So we need to have answers. How quickly after we met?**

**What about after the 4th official date. We went out for pizza. I suggested you come back to my place for wine and dessert. We made out. Moved to my bed…**

***Do you have a roommate?**

**Nope.**

***I do so let’s say we spend most of our time at your place.**

***Have we said I love you?**

**I don’t know. What do you think? What if you said it while we’re there. Maybe in front of my ex?**

***That would most likely end in a passionate kiss...**

**Yeah probably. I guess it’s okay if the time calls for it. Let’s just see how it goes.**

The next night Alex stumbles back into her apartment, slightly tipsy but mostly just tired from babysitting her clients that had thankfully been dropped off at the airport a few hours earlier. She pulls off her clothes and crawls into bed.

**TOBIN!!!**

**Are you there?**

**Are you awake??!?**

***I am now. What’s up?**

**Nvm sorry. I did the time wrong in my head. I thought it was 9:30**

***Nope wrong way but I’m already awake. What’s up?**

**I just got back from a bar and no offense but guys really suck.**

***Why would I take offense to that? I think that exact thought on the daily. One of the many reasons I don’t date them.**

***What happened?**

**They’re all just pigs.**

***It’s cause you’re hot.**

**So I heard. It’s fucking annoying when they think because they bought me a drink that they own my time. If they’d asked me prior to purchase I would have said no**

***Were you with people?**

**Yeah, some friends. Not the same group that’s gonna be at the wedding. But they know I’m not looking for anything either so we all took turns drinking the drinks.**

***They weren’t drugged right?**

**No. They were brought over by the bartender.**

***How many were there?**

**3\. We were there for like 4 hours cause we watched a … Wait for it… Baseball game on tv, and got food.**

***Holy shit? You did?**

**Yep. The Astros beat the Angles 11 to 10. It was actually kinda fun with how much scoring there was. We originally were gonna do shots each time a team scored but then the Angles got 5 in an inning so we stopped.**

***I’m so proud that I might shed a tear or two.**

***What would you think if I got you a jersey to wear while we were here for wedding stuff? Like when we’re chilling. It might kinda hammer home that you at least put up with sports now.**

**Sure**

***Okay. Do you have a certain team you like? Or even one that you like their colors?**

**Not really but baseball jerseys can look cute so what about one of those**

***Okay so an LA team I assume. Red, gray/red, or gray/blue**

**Red**

***Alright. I’m going to get you a blank one so you don’t have to learn random shit about any of the players**

**Good. I doubt any of them would know it anyways. Serv and the guys like soccer. They do rec leagues and stuff.**

Alex eventually lets Tobin go back to bed but they pick the conversation back up the next morning and they continue talking randomly whenever they’re both free while Tobin remains on the east coast. 

Less than 36 hours before she will land back in New York, Tobin trudges out of LAX to her waiting Uber. She groans just thinking about having to come back so soon. Once she’s in the car she texts Alex.

***On my way to my apartment. Can you help me figure out what to wear this week? I have a general idea but I feel like you should approve it. I want to be packed before I leave for the game**

**I just started packing. I’ll send you pictures of my outfits.**

As Alex tries on each of her outfits, to make sure they fit and that she has jewelry and shoes to match, she sends a picture to Tobin so they can plan their not matching but also not conflicting outfits. Tobin, who is exhausted from her cross country travels, sends back pictures of the clothes laid out on her bed for approval, too tired to put them on before tossing them in her suitcase knowing full well that she'll have to iron them a few times to get the wrinkles out. The dirty clothes from her week away lay in a pile in the corner. Once each day’s clothing has been meticulously critiqued then decided, Tobin collapses onto her bed, knowing she should take a nap but instead continues to text Alex. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen when they finally met but had high hopes based on how well they got along through text.

***So I don’t mean to be too forward (my filter turns off when I’m running on fumes) and you can tell me to shut it but I want to say that I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you and you’re incredibly gorgeous and you’re ex is an idiot for letting you go.**

**Thank you. I'll never tell you to shut it if you’re calling me gorgeous.**

**I’m glad we broke up and stuff because he’s been a complete ass since but I’m still not totally over it either. We were together for a long time. Almost got engaged. He started dating someone right after we broke up and they’ve been together for like 8 months.**

***Does he know you’re… I’m still not quite sure what you identify as**

**He does not know as far as I’m aware. I don’t really care one way or the other. He’ll probably be shocked when we show up though.**

***I'd imagine so if he doesn’t know.**

A few hours later Alex sits on the couch, the soccer game Tobin is at on the screen in front of her, but she’s barely paying attention. Her mind is more focused on tomorrow’s trip, meeting Tobin, and seeing Servando in person for the first time in months. There is a single question that keeps coming back to the center of her thoughts. She turns the television off and picks up her phone.

**Can I ask you something?**

***Go for it.**

**Have you had sex with your clients?**

***Yeah.**

Alex’s fingers hover over the keypad, not sure what response she was expecting or wanted.

**Was it weird?**

***Yes and no. Getting paid feels weird but I also think getting paid protects me.**

**How so?**

***I don't mean this in a bad way because it happens to me too but chicks can get clingy after sex**

***It protects both of us from getting feelings. A barrier basically. With money it’s just a physical act to help relieve the frustration, anger, desire, sadness, or w.e. they were feeling. If they don’t pay me feelings could develop.**

**Are you ever attracted to your clients?**

***In the instances I've been propositioned it was something I was open to. I shouldn’t really discuss personal details though.**

**How does that come up?**

***They ask. I tell them how much different things would cost and they get the money. It’s very business-like.**

**Is it a lot?**

***I thought you were against it**

**I’m against me doing it but your body your choice. I was just wondering how much it cost**

***Lol. It’s definitely not cheap. I provide a little more affection than someone they might pick up off the street. Also, they already have me there and I feel like there’s really only straight women out there looking to get picked up. If they don’t like the price they don’t have to do it.**

**I never really thought about that but yeah there aren’t as many options for hookers. You’re lucky. How does everyone else get laid?**

***Um, the normal fucking way. You don’t have to pay for sex to get it and it's not my preferred way.**

**Right. Maybe after we get back you can help me with that.**

Alex immediately palms her forehead. “Stupid.” She quickly types a follow up before Tobin can read the first one.

**Not like that. I just meant you’ll have dated me for a week and can help me figure out my flaws and why I only attract douchebags**

***The dude from SI keeps looking at me because I’m legit laughing and this game is not funny. Let’s see how the week goes and maybe I can offer you a few pointers.**

Alex breathes a sigh of relief and quickly changes the topic. Ten minutes later she says goodnight and heads to bed.


	2. Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the positive support! This is a long one.

**I’m finally in the car. My first alarm didn’t go off and my first Uber driver bailed. Get on the flight if I don’t make it and I’ll catch the next flight there.**

***You sure? I don’t mind waiting. I’ve been here for hours. What’s a few more?**

**No. Get on in case I can only find a single seat. I should make it as long as security isn’t too bad.**

**Why have you been there for hours?**

***I didn’t go to bed. After the game I just grabbed my stuff and came to the airport. Even got a few hours of sleep until a floor waxer thingy went by.**

**If you want to get a coffee now I’ll add that to what I’m paying you.**

***You can just get me a coffee in the city. I’ll make sure to pick up something super expensive from a ritzy French cafe**

Alex runs to the gate, panting as she holds out her phone with the boarding pass on the screen. “Made it.” She’s still breathing heavy when she boards the plane. As she makes her way back she starts getting nervous. She hadn’t really had time to be worried about meeting Tobin in the past two hours since she had been so anxious about simply making it onto the flight. Now that she was on the plane, her nerves started to pick up. Tobin wasn’t like the typical guy she went for. Normally she went for slightly more muscular and a little less lanky. The babyface wasn’t helping either, even with the scruff. 

Alex looks down at her phone, confirming her seat before dropping the device into her purse. She looks up to see what aisle she’s passing then a few rows ahead to where her seat lies empty in the middle of a row. She looks to the window seat where a hooded figure looks out the window. She takes a slow breath as she comes to a stop and confirms it’s the right row. 

“Sorry,” she says to the older man in the aisle seat while pointing to the middle. “Do you mind?” He stands up and moves to let her in. As she is sliding in she looks over the hooded figure and notices the frame is much smaller than she expected. The figure turns as Alex sits down and it’s not who Alex expects. 

The person pulls the hood and headphones off with a large smile. “You made it,” the woman says happily. “I was worried.” She sits up and extends a hand. “I’m Tobin. It’s nice to officially meet you.”

“You’re... not Tobin,” Alex states, looking the woman up and down.

“Uh,” Tobin’s hand drops a few inches. “Yes, I am.”

“But you’re… a woman.”

Tobin’s hand fully drops into her lap and her cheeks start to heat up. “Yea. Wha… huh?”

“Is this some kind of joke?”

“What would be the joke exactly?”

“I don’t know. Some kind of scam. You sent me a picture.”

“Yeah. I did. I was in it.”

“No you weren’t.”

Tobin pulls her phone out and quickly starts pressing the screen. Alex settles in her seat but keeps her bag on her lap, not that she has anywhere to go. Tobin eventually turns the phone and shows Alex the picture she had sent. “I’m in the middle. Like I told you.” Alex looks at the picture and realizes this Tobin is the woman below who she thought was Tobin. “The guy behind me is my brother. I’m pretty sure I told you this was my family and that I had two sisters and a brother.”

“Oh.” Alex looks between the photo and Tobin again. “I thought your brother was you.”

“Well it’s not.” Tobin sighs. “I wasn’t hiding it.”

“What am I gonna do? I said I was bringing a date.”

Tobin sits silently as the stewardess walks by. “Please put your bag under the seat and fasten your seatbelt ma’am.”

Alex looks up in shock. “Wha… Oh.” She looks down and straps herself in. She bends down to push her bag under the seat, giving her a few moments to collect herself.

“I’m sorry for the confusion,” Tobin says softly as Alex sits up. “I figured you had Googled me.”

“I figured it was better to know you for you and not whatever the internet said in case it was wrong.”

Tobin rubs her hand over her face. “I could try to see if I can find an old friend back home to be there for a day then have to bail or just show up for the wedding.”

“Syd’s supposed to be picking us up from the airport.” Alex leans back. “I just need to think.”

Tobin nods, “Okay.” She looks at Alex for a few seconds, wanting to say something else but instead puts her headphones back on and leans back. She turns her head to look out the window which gives Alex the ability to look her over easier.

Once they’re in the air and given the signal, Tobin reaches down and pulls out her laptop from her backpack. Alex watches her open up a saved word document and start typing, adding to a piece she’d already started. Alex’s eyes flick down to Tobin’s long fingers as they dance over the keyboard gracefully. 

Alex watches Tobin create a story while thinking about how the week she had planned out had been flipped on its head. The drink cart starts coming around, offering drinks. Tobin adjusts her headphones so that they only cover one ear and orders a coffee. Alex quickly turns and gets a second coffee. She slides it towards Tobin on her tray. “I did promise you coffee,” Alex explains when Tobin glances over.

“Thanks.” Tobin holds her cup between her hands and looks at her screen. 

“So how was the game last night? I stopped watching at half time.” Alex tries.

Tobin groans. “Two lightning delays. One a few minutes into the second half like right after you went to bed and the other right before they called stoppage time. It’s not even like it was a close game.” Tobin uses her arm to cover a yawn. “Then I had to finish my piece before I left. At least I got most of it done during the delays.”

Alex motions towards Tobin’s computer. “What are you writing now?”

Tobin glances at the screen. “Just a fun piece.” Tobin takes a sip of coffee. “It’s about the Sparks. Their season started a few weeks ago. Actually I did lie to you earlier. I am friends with a few of these players so that just makes it fun to write about them.”

“WNBA?” Alex clarifies.

Tobin nods. “Yeah.” She takes a slow sip, savoring the liquid caffeine.

“I’m not gay.”

Tobin looks up confused. Alex had said it very softly so maybe she heard her wrong but the seriousness of her face tells Tobin she heard correctly. “Yeah. I figured based on the disgusted look you gave me.”

“I’m sorry about that. I have nothing against queer people. Two of the other bridesmaids are dating. You’re just not what I was expecting.”

“Yep.” Tobin pops the ‘p’. 

“I guess if you’re still cool with it I can act it though.”

“Huh.” 

Alex looks at their row mate who is passed out cold. “I still need a date and you’re kinda my only option. The stories we planned all work. I just need to change all the he’s to she’s.” Alex thinks for a few seconds. “I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do.”

“Can I offer advice if you’re serious about this?”

Alex nods and waits painstakingly forever as Tobin takes a final sip of her first small coffee. “Just say you weren’t sure how they were going to react and wanted to tell them in person. As you said you’re not gay but maybe you just felt a connection. So when you go back to men next week they don’t make a fuss.”

Alex twirls a strand of hair around her finger. “I’ve done things with a woman before,” she states quietly, thankful for the talking kids in the row in front of them.

“Like what? Kiss a friend in front of your boyfriends?”

“No,” Alex shakes her head, quietly adding, “like everything.” Tobin stares with wide eyes so Alex continues. “My ex and I had gotten into a fight and we did that two day break up thing where you break up but then get back together. So during the break-up part, my friends took me to a lesbian bar so I didn’t have to be around guys and we were getting drunk and dancing. This girl came up to me and we started dancing.”

Tobin rolls her eyes. “So you’ve danced with a woman? Great.”

Alex shakes her head. “No. We made out then she took me to her place and…” Alex circles her finger in the air a few times to insinuate more.

“You can explain what that means later.” Tobin picks up the second cup and looks back at her computer. Alex can see her lips moving as she reads over her work. Alex reaches and takes a magazine out of her bag. She flips it open and starts looking through it slowly. Tobin drops her right hand down to Alex’s knee and she cups the inner side while rubbing the top with her thumb. 

Alex squirms so Tobin pulls her hand back. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get you used to me.”

“Well let’s just say we don’t do  _ that  _ in public.” 

Tobin shrugs. “You’re friends are going to see through this one hundred percent. You don’t seem to like me and you can’t stand me touching you. I give it a day before they figure it out.” She turns back to the screen and looks over her story.

Alex watches her for a long time, thinking over what she’d said. She then looks at Tobin’s hand resting on the tray table next to her computer. She sets down the magazine, lifts the armrest between them, and reaches out to slide her fingers between Tobin’s. She pulls their hands down to her lap and glances over at Tobin. “This is okay for now.”

Tobin studies Alex for a second then looks back at her screen and takes another sip. Alex slowly flips through the magazine After a few minutes, Tobin pulls her hand away. Alex is about to say something snarky but sees she’s using it to type one-handed since her coffee is in the other hand. Once she’s done, she sets it back in Alex’s lap but makes Alex slide their fingers back into place.

The stewardess comes around after another couple minutes to collect garbage. Alex hands over both empty coffee cups. Tobin edits her piece one-handed while Alex skims through the magazine, also one-handed. Tobin yawns again and rubs her eyes a few times. Eventually, she closes her computer and slips it into the seatback pocket. Alex expects her to pull her hand away but she just leans over to the wall and closes her eyes. Alex takes this time to study her face more closely. She had looked at the picture many times but had never studied anyone but the man she had assumed was Tobin. She chastises herself for not looking Tobin up on the internet. She was a writer for an international company. This particular  _ feature _ could have been discovered within a few seconds if she had actually looked.

With the way Tobin’s breathing evens out after a few minutes, Alex can tell she’s asleep, yet their hands still remain loosely connected. Alex lazily flips through the pages of her magazine once more, having finished it already, stopping on stories she had bypassed the first time. Tobin squeezes her hand a few times and each time Alex looks over to see Tobin is still asleep and the movements are involuntary. She shakes her head and thinks about the shit show that the week is going to turn into. She leans back and starts planning different things to say when she is confronted. She also starts going over her conversations with Tobin, trying to figure out how she so drastically screwed up.

They hit a bit of turbulence and Tobin’s head bounces against the wall. She wakes up startled and pulls her hand from Alex’s. She rubs her head as her eyes adjust to the light. “We almost there?” she asks.

“It only been like forty minutes.” Tobin groans. “You know sleeping and caffeine are like the worst things to do when heading east.”

“I would have been dead when I met your friends and I’m supposed to make a good impression. Also, I’m still on east coast time, sorta.” Tobin turns in her seat to crack her back, noticing the three men in the row behind her all have headphones in. “So you wanna keep talking?”

Alex looks up, trying to think. “We should plan more. I like your idea of saying it’s just you.”

They continue scheming. Tobin eventually pulls her computer out again to show Alex the things they had come up with before and take notes on new ideas. They have ten pages of new notes by the time the pilot announces their descent. Tobin closes her computer and slides it into her bag. 

They take their time after debarking the plane, using the bathroom and slowly moving through the crowd. They pause in front of the security checkpoint. “Ready?” Alex asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Tobin holds out her hand which Alex takes and they start to walk. When they get to the escalator, Alex steps closer and wraps her other hand around Tobin’s bicep. As they start their descent, Tobin turns and leans to Alex’s ear. “I’m gonna kiss your cheek in case Sydney can see. It’ll also be good practice so don’t make a disgusted face.” Alex nods and Tobin leans in. Her lips softly brush Alex’s cheek before she pulls back. 

“You’re good,” Alex says softly with a shy smile. “Syd totally just saw that and is super confused.” 

Tobin turns to try and find the person Alex is referring to but she had seen so many pictures and all the faces were blurred together in her mind. Once they reach the bottom, Alex lets go of Tobin and runs to the left. Tobin sighs but follows in her general direction.

When Alex gets to Sydney, she goes in for the hug but she’s held back. “Who was that? Who just kissed you?”

“Tobin. My uh...girlfriend.”

“Excuse me? You one HUNDRED percent never told me Tobin was a girl.”

Alex shrugs shyly. “I wanted to tell you in person. I wasn’t really sure how to say it on the phone.”

“I’m pretty sure you said she was your boyfriend.”

“I was waiting to tell you. We can talk about it later. Promise.” Alex turns as Tobin gets to them. “Syd, this is Tobin. Tobin this is Sydney.”

Tobin sticks out her hand and shakes Sydney’s, allowing the future bride to look her up and down. “Nice to officially meet you. Alex has told me a lot about you.”

“Well lucky you. Alex has told me nothing about you. I barely knew your name.”

Tobin glances at Alex for a second. “Yeah. She was a little nervous about telling you guys. I was trying to tell her it would be okay but you know how she over analyzes things.” 

Alex’s eyes widen. “I do not over-analyze things.”

Sydney laughs. “You totally do. I love you regardless.” Sydney grabs Tobin’s hand again and turns around. “Let’s go get your bags. I have a  _ ton  _ of questions.” Alex rolls her eyes and follows after.

“So like she actually told me nothing. How did you guys meet?”

“We sat next to each other at a Lakers’s game. She was so bored and had no idea what was going on so I started talking to her.” They get to their carousel and stop.

“So how did you turn Alex?”

Tobin motions down at herself. “Have you seen me?” 

Alex slaps her shoulder while Sydney laughs. “Stop trying to show off,” Alex says while looking at Tobin, impressed and shocked at the charm she had turned on.

Tobin turns and takes Alex’s hand. “Sorry.” She turns back to Sydney. “I don’t really think I turned her at all. She says it’s just me. Now I don’t know if I should be offended cause she thinks I look like a guy or what, but I’ll take whatever gets me her.” 

Alex smile softens. “You don’t look like a guy.”

Sydney looks between the two for a second. “How long have you been together?” 

Tobin looks to Alex for a second. “It depends who you ask.” Alex raises her eyebrow confused as this was something they had very clearly discussed and settled on. She squeezes Tobin’s hand but Tobin looks at Sydney with a smirk. “Alex says four months since that’s when she finally let me take her on a date, but I say six months since that’s when we had our first kiss.”

Sydney looks at Alex with a large grin. “Two months of not dating after your first  _ kiss _ ?”

“It was just a kiss Syd.”

“Mmhm,” Sydney nods. “Sure.”

“We were in public.” 

“Exhibitionist. Wow. You really have changed.”

Tobin chuckles at their interaction. “It really was just a kiss. She gave me her number but then made me practically chase her for two months.”

The conveyor belt starts moving and the siren goes off. “Oh good. Go get our bags babe.” Alex pushes Tobin away from Sydney.

Tobin turns “You do remember that I have no idea what your bag looks like since you almost missed our flight?”

“There’s two, not one, and they’re gray with a pink thing around the handle. It has my name on it.” Tobin nods and obediently walks away.

“I like her,” Sydney comments.

Alex looks at Tobin’s back for a second, impressed with the woman’s improvisation ability before turning back. “Yeah, she’s something.”

“So explain.”

Alex sighs and points to a bench a few feet away, recalling the exact details she had worked out with Tobin. “We were at the Laker’s game. A client had given me tickets so I had to go. She was there with a few friends for one of their birthdays. She was talking to me and I was kinda blowing her off. I was so bored that I just kept drinking the shitty beer. Then they did the kiss cam thing and we had been interacting enough that I guess they thought we were together. I was drunk and she had definitely been hitting on me so I figured why not. 

“I kissed her, not expecting much but…” Alex looks towards the conveyor belt for dramatic effect, “it was like, actually, a really good kiss. I gave her my number for some reason, mostly the alcohol. She kinda kept bugging me to hang out even though I kept telling her I was straight. After a few weeks, I gave in but told her just as friends. We did friend things and I found out she was fun. Then I told her I might be getting feelings for her but wasn’t sure.” 

Sydney nods, hyper-focused on Alex’s story.

“She asked me out, said it could be like a trial run.” Alex looks down at her shoes. “She was really good about letting me set the pace. Gave me an easy way out if it ever felt weird. We went somewhere we’d gone before but she dressed up, drove me home, then asked if she could kiss me.” Alex looks at Sydney who is listening closely to the words Tobin had come up with. “I don’t know if I’m gay but I have never been attracted to a woman like I am with her.”

“What about that chick in college?”

Alex shrugs. “Maybe I’m partially bi or something and lean more towards men. I don’t know. I’ve tried to not analyze it because... if I do, I might screw this up.”

Sydney glances towards Tobin. “So…” a devilish glint appears in her eyes, “how’s the sex?”

“Nope.”

Sydney tilts her head. “You guys haven’t had sex yet?”

“No, I’m not talking about that with you.”

“What?” Sydney whines. “You always used to tell me how sex with Serv was.”

“We were in college the last time I did that.”

“That’s the last time you were in a new relationship.” 

“Now we’re adults.”

“Yeah. Dom and I had sex last night. He started off-”

“Stop,” Alex holds her hands up. “I do not want to hear that.”

“It was so-o good.”

“I’m sure it was.”

“I’ll just ask her.” Sydney hops up and skips away before Alex can stop her. 

“Fuck,” Alex chases after her friend, getting to her just as she starts to talk.

“So Alex won’t tell me about your sex life.” 

Tobin’s eyes go slightly wide. She glances at Alex then back at Sydney. “Uh. I mean if she won’t tell you then I shouldn’t. I’m more scared of her than you... but I guess I can say I’m not disappointed.” 

Sydney huffs at the double blow off. “Where are your bags?” 

Once they drag the three bags to Sydney’s car, Tobin willingly climbs into the back. Alex smiles at her as they get in and she reaches back to squeeze Tobin’s knee. “Ugh, stop.” Sydney rolls her eyes. “She’s a foot away.” 

Alex winks at Tobin and turns forward. “We got really close on the flight over. I miss being so far away.”

Sydney squeals. “You joined the mile high club. Tell me everything.”

Tobin reaches forward, touching Alex’s shoulder. “Mind if I tell it?”

“You’re the better storyteller so sure.”

Tobin grins and leans back. She closes her eyes, painting the imaginary scene. “So about halfway through our flight I got up and headed to the bathroom. Alex stayed in her seat and when I got back she was acting a little weird. We were sharing a blanket and my hands were under the blanket cause it was kinda cold. She took my hand and pulled it into her lap and I realized her shorts were no longer on. I started… ya know… and pretty soon Alex was breathing a little loud. I thought she was going to wake the guy next to us. I leaned over and said…” She opens her eyes to look at Alex and says, “Why don’t you tell her what I said.”

Alex looks at Sydney with a straight face. “She leaned in close and in this sexy, husky voice said… Bullshit.” Alex can’t hold back her smile anymore. Tobin reaches a hand forward and Alex slaps it. “Nice set up.”

“Nice finish.”

“So none of that happened?” Sydney asks.

Alex shakes her head. “I told you. I’m not discussing that with you. Not yet anyways.”

Sydney pulls out of the parking space annoyed. “Not to be difficult,” Tobin calls from the back, “but what do I need to do to get some food.”

Alex glances at the time, noticing they have quite a while until dinner but Sydney answers first. “Once you get checked in you have a few hours before we have to leave. There’re food places all around the hotel.”

“Pizza? I haven’t had good pizza in… I don’t know how long.”

“You had New York pizza a few days ago. You were bragging about it.”

“I’m rarely on the east coast. Whenever I am, I have to indulge.”

Alex and Sydney switch to talking about the wedding festivities. Tobin zones out within five minutes and pulls her headphones on. She bobs her head to the music, completely unaware of what they are talking about.

Sydney glances at Tobin through her mirror. “Does anyone else know?”

“Know what?” Alex asks, half paying attention, more focused on the city outside her window.

“That you brought her? Like did you tell Ash or Kel?”

“You think Kelley would have been able to sit on that. Being here with her today is a shock for me. I almost called it off.”

“She talk you into it?” 

Alex glances over at Tobin, glad she can be at least somewhat honest. “Not really. She gave me the choice. She has family nearby and would have just gone there.”

“Are you meeting her family?”

Alex shakes her head. “No.”

“Has she met yours?”

Alex shakes her head again, giving a somewhat honest answer. “I’m not ready for that. They’re still hung up on Serv.” Wanting to change the topic, Alex continues asking Sydney more about the upcoming week.

Thirty minutes later, Sydney pulls up to the front of their hotel. A valet opens the doors for them and they all climb out. Tobin looks around at the hotel and leans towards Alex. “Damn.”

Alex smirks and moves around Tobin to make sure their bags are handled with grace. Sydney hugs Alex, telling her she has to go take care of some details for the night and heads to the elevators. They check-in and each get a key card.

Once they’re in the elevator, Tobin looks over at Alex. “So how’d I do?”

“You’re really good at this.”

“Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”

“It’s not.” The doors glide open and they step out, looking around for a sign with room numbers. “I’m just shocked at how you just like... slipped into character so easily.” They head down the hall towards their room.

“Well, it’s easier for me because I can be anyone. You have to be you with me.”

They’re quiet until they’re inside their room. “So how long until your other friends find out?” Tobin asks as she walks in and dumps her bag on the desk.

“Uh, they probably already know. I’m sure that’s where Syd ran off to.” Alex pulls out her phone to text the bride to not tell anyone else.

Tobin moves to the couch along the far wall and lays down. “I’m gonna take a quick nap then I need food.”

“I need to shower,” Alex states. “I didn’t have time this morning.” Tobin hums, her eyes already closed. “I put money on the desk for when they bring our bags up.” 

“Mmm-k.”

Alex heads to the bathroom and starts undressing when she hears a knock. She turns the shower on and pokes her head out the door. “Tobin.” 

“I’m going,” she groans in response.

Alex closes the door and climbs into the shower.

Tobin grabs the money off the desk and opens the door, stepping back to create a pathway. The figure in the doorway isn’t the bellhop they had left their bags with and based on her clothing, isn’t even part of the hotel staff.

She smiles at Tobin. “Alex here?”

“Uh-She’s in the shower.”

“Cool.” The freckled woman walks into the room and sticks out her hand. “I’m Kelley.” Tobin connects the dots, matching the description of her fun loving friend with the shorter woman in front of her.

“Tobin,” Tobin replies, shaking her hand and letting the door close.

Kelley looks her up and down. “So you’re the one who turned my friend gay.”

“I didn’t force her.”

Kelley shrugged. “Not saying you did. Are you ready for the week?”

“I thought I was but now that it’s real, I’m a little more worried.”

Kelley slaps at the air. “You have nothing to be worried over. We’ll grill you a little bit because Alex didn’t tell us anything about you and we need to make sure you meet our high standards but there will be a ton of alcohol and good food.”

“So everyone’s gonna be cool with Alex bringing  _ me _ ?”

Kelley shrugs. “I’m sure there’s a few people that won’t be but everyone in the bridal party couldn’t give two shits. Trust me. We love the gays.”

Before Tobin can respond, there is another knock at the door. Tobin answers it, this time it is the bellboy with their bags. She lets him in and tips him after he places their luggage down.

Tobin knocks on the bathroom door and opens it just a crack. “Alex. Luggage just got here and your friend, Kelley, is here.”

“Kel?” Alex calls in shock.

“Hi Alex.” Kelley leans to the door. “I’m getting to know your girlfriend pretty well. You might want to come save her.”

“I’ll be out in a minute. Go easy on her.”

“Not a chance,” Kelley calls while Tobin pulls the door shut.

Tobin motions towards the couch where she wishes she was napping. “So the people that will care…”

“You mean Serv?”

Tobin nods.

“Well he’s here stag. He moved here like a month and a half ago and according to Dom, is sleeping with everyone and anyone.” Kelley flops onto the bed.

Tobin looks at Kelley confused, wondering why Alex hadn’t filled her in on the fact that he didn’t have a date. She moves to the desk chair and props her feet up on the bed. 

Kelley can somewhat read her expression and answers the unasked question. “Don’t think Alex knew that. We weren’t sure if she was over him or not but I guess her dodginess was because of you and not him.”

“What dodginess?” Tobin asks since she was not in fact the reason for it.

Kelley shrugs and looks around the room. “We tried setting her up a few times but she always said stuff about how she wasn’t ready or wasn’t interested in dating.” She looks at Tobin with her lips tightly together. “How long have you guys been together?”

“Uh, four months officially.”

Kelley thinks. “Yeah okay. That makes sense.”

The bathroom door opens and Alex comes out in only a towel. “Kelley?”

Kelley hops up with a smile. “Alex.”

The two slow-motion run towards each other, hugging when they finally make it. “You’re getting me all wet,” Kelley groans as she pulls back. She glances back at Tobin with a devilish glint in her eye, “Not like that. Don’t kill me.”

Tobin laughs and Alex shoves Kelley’s shoulder. Alex goes to one of her suitcases and bends down, careful of the short towel. She flips it open and pulls out the first casual things she can find. “Where are you going?” Kelley asks when Alex turns towards the bathroom.

Alex holds up the clothes. “To get dressed.”

“Why? We’ve both seen you naked before,” Kelley looks at Tobin for support. “Stay and talk with us.”

Alex shakes her head. “It’s been years since we changed in front of each other. I’ll just be a minute. You can talk to me through the door if you really need to.”

Kelley huffs and falls onto the bed. “So how bad was Alex at sex when you guys first started? Did it get better?” Kelley asks, knowing the reaction she’s going to get from her friend.

“Really Kel? You can’t pretend for at least a day that my friends are normal?”

“Talking about sex is a normal, healthy thing. I’m welcoming Tobin into our group.”

Alex looks pointedly at Tobin, “You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.” 

The bathroom door closes and Kelley smiles at Tobin. “So.”

Tobin shakes her head. “I’m pretty sure I still shouldn’t answer that.”

“Oh come on. That’s no fun. I won’t tell her.”

Tobin shakes her head again. “I’ll answer almost anything but not that.”

Kelley huffs. “Fine, for now. What do you do?”

Tobin smiles. “I’m a journalist.”

“In LA? So what, you write for a tabloid or what… like financial boring stuff.”

“Neither. I work for ESPN.”

Kelley laughs, “Okay miss thang. So you’re kinda a big deal.”

Tobin shakes her head. “Not really. I rarely do any of the on-air stuff.”

“Rarely, so you do sometimes go on tv.”

“A few times.”

The bathroom door opens and Alex comes out with her hair in a towel in a tank top with no bra and short shorts. Kelley flops over to look at Alex. “Bitch, your girl is famous and you told us nothing.” Alex tilts her head at Tobin and raises an eyebrow in confusion. Kelley takes her phone out and starts typing. 

Tobin shakes her head. “I’m not famous.”

Kelley holds her phone out with Tobin’s Twitter on the screen. “Dude, you’re verified.” Alex looks at Tobin with wide eyes while really slapping herself for not looking her up.

Tobin shakes her head at Kelley. “Yeah, that means nothing these days. Anyone can get verified. ESPN likes to have their writers verified so more people read their stuff. If you look at it, it’s basically all work stuff.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Kelley is looking at Tobin’s page then turns to look up at Alex. “Why don’t you follow her?”

“Um…”

“Cause I told her she didn’t have to,” Tobin steps in. “It’s all my articles and I don’t need her to read everything I write.”

“Why not?” Kelley asks, fascinated.

“Well she doesn’t really like sports for one but also why read about a game I know she watched and tried to analyze.”

“You make Alex watch sports?”

Tobin shakes her head with a laugh. “I can’t make her do anything.” She looks up at Alex, “You’ve watched what...baseball, soccer, and basketball within the past week?”

Alex nods with a smile at Tobin’s smooth recovery.”Yep.”

“Did I make you watch any of them?”

“Nope. I ask her a ton of annoying questions usually via text and she tries to dumb it down for me. I’m sorta getting the hang of it.”

“They’re not annoying. I pitched writing a ‘sports for beginners’ article using your questions as examples.”

“You did?” Alex asks. “Like seriously?”

Tobin nods, turning to look at Alex. “Yeah. After you asked me about the balk I thought it could be useful and maybe help pull in some newer readers. My editor seemed to really like the idea actually. We’re coming up with how to format it now”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

Tobin looks at Alex slightly confused. She searches her eyes but it seems Alex is genuinely curious and not asking for Kelley’s sake. She adds a shrug with her answer, “I haven’t really seen you this past week and I was waiting till it was farther along. I’ve pitched things before that have flopped. I didn’t want to put the cart before the horse so to speak.”

Alex smirks, gaining some confidence as she walks over to Tobin, taking a deep breath and leaning down for a light kiss on the lips. Tobin inhales sharply as their lips connect for the first time. “I’m still proud of you,” Alex says, just loud enough for Kelley hear and subsequently gag.

Tobin smiles up at Alex, wishing she could pull the woman back down for a longer kiss. She’d been attracted to her since Alex had sent her a picture and talking to her had intensified the feelings but this was just a job and she was straight.

Alex turns to Kelley with an eye roll. “Let’s go to your room. I know you have a million questions for me and she’s exhausted.” Kelley groans but leaves with Alex. Tobin grabs a pillow off the bed and flops onto the couch.

Once Kelley has locked Alex in her room, the questions immediately start. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Alex can hear the slight hint of hurt in Kelley’s voice.

“Which part?”

“Either,” Kelley shrugs.

Alex sighs. “Well. I didn’t tell you I was dating because I didn’t want to slip up and say she or have you look her up like you just did.” Kelley stays silent while Alex thinks about her next answer. “I’m still not sure about the other part. I know you’ll love me no matter what but I was still worried. I don’t know what I identify as or if it’s even going to work out with her because of that.”

“Does she know that?”

“I think so.”

Kelley looks at Alex, studying her face. “I want you to be happy and if she’s making you happy then stay with her and if you get to a point where she doesn’t then you have to do what’s right for you. On the other hand,” Kelley collects her thoughts before continuing, “she seems to really like you, like a lot, and you can really hurt her if you let it go too far then realize you don’t want to be with her simply because she’s a woman.”

“I know,” Alex says with a bit of bite. “She knows.”

“Okay." Kelley holds her hands up. "I just wanted to put that out there cause you’ve apparently been dating for a while and she might start assuming you're on board.”

“Can we just drop that? I’m sure you have a billion other questions.”

Kelley perks up and nods. “How’s the sex?”

Alex groans but recalls Tobin’s non-lie. “I’ll tell you what she told Syd and that’s it.” Kelley nods. “I haven’t been disappointed yet.”

Kelley pouts, trying to get more details but Alex won’t budge. “So how’d you meet?” Kelley asks.

Alex launches into the story she had concocted with Tobin. They continue catching up for the next hour until Alex excuses herself under the guise of waking Tobin up.

When she enters the room, Tobin is passed out on the couch. Alex quietly starts unpacking her bags into the dresser and closet, glancing over every time she thinks she is slightly too loud. Once she’s done, she changes out of her pajamas and walks over. She watches Tobin for a minute before reaching out and lightly shaking her arm. “Uh, Tobin. Did you want to go eat?”

Tobin nods without opening her eyes. “Just give me a minute.”

“Okay.” Alex steps back and goes to her phone. She hears Tobin yawn and sees her stretching, still horizontal. After a minute Tobin sits up and rubs her eyes, looking more tired than before. “How was your nap?”

“I could probably use like ten more hours. I’m totally cashing in on that coffee tomorrow.”

Alex holds up her phone, already planning the caffeine boost. “There’s a café a block away if you want to get some of that now or there’s a pizza place.”

“Let’s do pizza. If I have any more caffeine today I don’t think I’ll ever get enough sleep.” Tobin stands up stretching more. “How was your talk? Any new stories I need to know the details for?”

“No. I just told her a bunch of the stuff we’d come up with and tried to turn the situation on her.”

“So who else are we meeting today?” Tobin sits back down to put her shoes on.

“Um almost everyone should be there tonight. At least the important ones. Ali and Ash are landing soon so we’ll see them tonight and… I think same with everyone else. I asked Syd not to tell anyone else so I could do it. I’m pretty sure she’s only told Kel and Dom so far.”

Tobin looks up while tying her shoe. “Did Kelley tell you about your ex?”

“That he didn’t bring anyone, yeah. Apparently he broke up with the girl cause he wanted to be free while he was here. He’s in New York, well Jersey actually, for a bit helping set up a new office for a client.”

“So did he break up with you because he wanted to sleep with other people too?” 

“Seems like it.”

“So we need to really amp up our facade, right? Make him super regret everything that he did.”

Alex bobs her head, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Or we don’t have to.” Alex shrugs, so Tobin continues. “I mean, if you prefer, we could break up now or I have a work emergency. “

Alex chuckles, “And what kind of work emergency could you have?”

Tobin opens her mouth but nothing comes out, “Okay good point. I could have a family emergency.”

“If you had a family emergency they would wonder why I’m not with you considering your family is in Jersey.” 

“I have family in Florida. I could  _ ‘fly’ _ there but just stay with my folks again. My mom would be happy if I surprised her.”

Alex shakes her head, “It’s okay. We’re already here. Might as well keep it going.”

An hour later, they return from getting pizza with Kelley who spent most of the time rehashing their college days for Tobin’s benefit. As much as Alex had been embarrassed during the meal, she also hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time. Tobin played the doting girlfriend role very well, getting her a refill and keeping her close while they walked to and from the pizza place. While Tobin was at the counter to refill Alex’s water Kelley glanced back then smiled. 

“I really like her.”

Alex simply nodded. “Yeah.”

Alex sits in bed and turns the television on while they wait for it to be time to leave. She starts to think about some of the conversations she had had with Tobin, still wondering how her misgendering had come so far. 

Tobin starts unpacking her things into drawers, groaning at each thing she pulls out. “You okay?”

Tobin nods. “I was so tired yesterday I kinda just balled everything up and I’m going to have to iron it all.”

Alex rolls out of bed to get the iron. “I can start some of it.”

Tobin shakes her head, “It’s fine. I can do it. I’m just annoyed with myself.”

Alex sets the ironing board down. “It’ll help relax me. At least give me what you’re going to wear tonight.”

Tobin sighs but pulls a haphazardly folded navy, short-sleeve, button-down with tiny white mustaches and a balled-up pair of dark wash jeans. Alex smiles and lays them out before plugging in the iron. She convinces Tobin to let her do the rest so she can see what she’s working with for the week and to calm her nerves. Tobin heads to the bathroom for a shower while Alex meticulously irons Tobin’s clothes, alternating hanging the item or neatly folding it. When she’s done the shower is still running so she moves to the desk and begins doing her makeup.

Tobin walks out of the bathroom in only a black bra and matching underwear, with her hair wound up in a plush white towel. Alex looks over then quickly diverts her eyes. Tobin smirks but says nothing as she walks to the couch and sits down. 

Alex keeps her eyes focused on her own appearance. Tobin shakes her head slightly as she gets her moisturizer out and starts applying it to her legs. Alex glances at Tobin a few times before getting up and taking her dress into the bathroom to finish getting ready. 

Alex decides they should be at the club before meeting up with the rest of her friends so the group is slightly intoxicated when she introduces them to Tobin. It will also allow her to be slightly intoxicated when she starts having to lie even more. 

They head into the busy club and Alex directs Tobin straight to the bar where she places her card down and orders two shots for herself then turns to Tobin who smiles but shakes her head. 

As the bartender goes to make her drinks, Tobin leans into Alex’s ear, “It’s going to be okay. You did fine with Syd and Kelley.” Tobin leans back with an encouraging smile. 

Alex nods, “I know.”

“And you look great. He’s going to be drooling.”

Alex grabs the two shots as they’re set in front of her and throws them back. She takes her card back and takes a deep breath. She reaches over and wraps her hand around Tobin’s bicep. “I’m ready.”

Tobin nods and leads them through the busy Monday night crowd towards the roped off VIP area. Tobin looks to Alex when they get close. “You can run ahead. I’ll catch up.”

Alex drops Tobin’s arm and runs the last bit of the way, ducking under the rope as she double hugs two women. Tobin takes the slightly longer route through the opening and stands a foot behind Alex. The two women Alex are talking to eventually notice Tobin lurking and turn enough that Alex looks over her shoulder.

“Oh, right.” She holds out her hand, which Tobin takes and allows herself to be pulled in. This is the start as Alex introduces her to a dozen people in less than five minutes. Thankfully they had gone over most of them before. 

Tobin sees the realization in their eyes as they realize Alex had said girlfriend. They glance down at their connected hands or body positions. They all give Tobin a once over before turning to Alex. Some are shocked while others go from shaking her hand to pulling her in for a hug, accepting her into their group immediately. Alex loops her arm through Tobin’s, playing with the rolled shirt sleeve just as Tobin had instructed her to in the cab over.

Alex heads to the bathroom, leaving Tobin with her friends, happy they were so easily accepting of her and believing the lie. She reapplies her lip gloss and adjusts her hair, making sure it’s perfect before walking out. Alex exits the bathroom, heading down the narrow hallway, and her footsteps falter as she sees Servando waiting for her.

“Serv,” she says softly. She puts her hand against the wall, not sure what to do with herself.

“Lex,” he replies, looking her up and down as he steps in. “How are you?” He goes in for a hug which she half reciprocates by placing her hands on his sides while mumbling a response. “You look great.” He presses his lips softly against her jawline, lingering there. Alex relaxes into his familiar scent and touch. “So gorgeous,” he reiterates as he pulls back. 

Before the awkward eye contact can begin, Kelley comes barging into the hallway, “Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex.” She rushes in to hug her, stepping in between the two and hugging Alex, mindful of the drink she’s carrying. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” 

Servando clears his throat causing Kelley to quickly spin and shove a finger in his chest, sending a few drops of her drink over the rim of the glass. “Well hello, dick head. You won’t mind me saving her from this awkward encounter do you, since you’re a horrible person and everything? No. Great.” She takes Alex’s hand and leads her back into the noisy room without giving him a chance.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Alex says as they head to the table.

“I wasn’t doing that to protect you from him. I was doing it to protect you from yourself. I don’t want you doing anything that would ruin your relationship with her.” Kelley motions towards Tobin who is talking to a group of their friends. “She seems great and you’re too nice sometimes. He doesn’t deserve your time.”

Alex slides into the seat next to Tobin and looks up to see Servando’s eyes are on her. She turns away and moves so her lips are almost against Tobin’s ear. “Put your arm around me.”

Tobin obliges without turning from her conversation with Allie, Jose, and Ashlyn. Alex slides closer to Tobin and plays with the fingers that loosely fall over her shoulder. She glances up and sees Servando staring at them with his jaw hanging. Alex puts her hands on Tobin’s shoulder and rests her head as she turns towards the conversation. She eventually gets thirsty again and after a kiss on the cheek asks Tobin to get her another drink.

Tobin stands at the bar, waiting for the bartender to finish making the drinks for the group next to her. A man comes up on the other side of her, she glances over and immediately recognizes him as Alex’s ex. She gives him a subtle nod but refocuses on the wall of alcohol in front of her.

“What’s up?” he says, realizing she’s not going to say anything. “I’m Servando.”

Tobin turns and sees his hand is outstretched. She shakes it. “Tobin.” The bartender places the drinks down for the other group and Tobin pulls her hand back to motion for him. She gives her and Alex’s order.

“So you’re here with Alex?” he asks even though they both know he already knows the answer.

“Yeah,” Tobin nods, looking at the bartender for a second to hide the flash of a smirk before turning to the man next to her. “Did you guys go to school together too?” 

Servando is visibly taken aback by the question. Luckily for Tobin, her drink is placed down so she is able to look away before her straight face breaks. She takes a small sip of the bourbon while Servando thinks.

“We dated,” he says gruffly.

“Oh.” Tobin nods, then lets a look of realization pass over her face and she fully turns towards him. “Ohh” Tobin smiles like she just put the pieces together. “You’re the ex, right sorry. Guess she really does have a type." She looks him up and down quickly. "And a thing for unusual names. Maybe it’s because her’s is so common.” He blinks at Tobin’s odd response. The woman picks up the second drink from the bar. “Anyways, it was nice to meet you. Guess I’ll be seeing you around this week,” she smiles before walking back to Alex. 

Alex looks up as Tobin approaches, happily accepting the drink as the journalist slides into the space next to her. “So I met him,” Tobin says into Alex’s ear as she puts her arm back around Alex’s shoulders.

Alex looks towards the bar and sees Servando leaning against it staring at them. “Wave at him then pretend I nibbled on your ear and don’t look over again”

Alex follows Tobin’s instructions, fake laughing and pushing Tobin back. She stares into her eyes. “Now what?” 

“Just hold on. He’s probably still looking.” Tobin reaches up to delicately tuck a nonexistent strand of hair behind Alex’s ear. “Take a sip of your drink.” Alex does as told and Tobin adjusts her position and starts slowly scanning the room. When Alex puts the drink down she looks at the side of Tobin’s head and through the mirrored wall she is able to see Servando has moved on to a barely legal blonde at the bar. 

“You’re good at this,” Alex says.

Tobin grins. “It’s all about reading people. He's pissed cause I acted like I had no idea who he was then sorta made a joke about it.”

Sydney comes over with both hands out for the two of them. “Come on, dance time.” Tobin looks to Alex who is throwing her drink back so Tobin does the same then helps her slide out. 

Tobin lets Alex take the lead onto the floor. They stop when they reach most of the others and Alex turns to Tobin. She puts her arms around Tobin’s neck and starts moving her hips. Tobin holds her hips and mimics Alex’s movements, grinding their fronts together. Alex eventually turns around and guides Tobin’s hands over her stomach. 

After a few songs, Tobin becomes hot in more ways than one and needs a break. She heads back to the table where Ali and Ashlyn are seated, leaving Alex to dance with Sydney and Kelley. They make small talk, asking about her job and how her and Alex met. Kelley, Sydney, and Alex return to the table twenty minutes later. Kelley pulls Ashlyn away, in need of a wing woman and Sydney takes her place at the table. 

Alex slides into the booth next to Tobin and leans to her ear. “He’s watching me again,” she states quiet enough that no one else can hear. 

Tobin turns to Alex and puts her arm around the other woman’s shoulder. She leans in so her forehead is pressed against the side of Alex’s head and her lips are millimeters from her ear. “I have an idea if you want but it’ll make everyone think we had sex in the bathroom.”

Alex looks around at her friends who aren’t paying attention to them and nods. “Alright. What is it?”

Tobin smirks as she explains, “I’m going to play with the strap of your dress, after a little bit whisper in my ear, rub across my chest a little, kiss my cheek, then get out and tell me to come to the bathroom with you.”

Alex nods and Tobin pulls away and turns back to Ali and now Sydney. Tobin hooks her finger through the strap holding up the dress and starts rubbing the skin underneath.

Alex slides closer and puts her arm around Tobin's lower back, resting her chin on her shoulder, watching the conversation. She lets her other hand lazily move up and start playing with top button of the shirt, sliding her finger in and out of the slot underneath. She lightly scratches at the hidden skin, watching Tobin’s face for a reaction but not getting one. 

After a few minutes, Alex glances towards the bar and through her peripheral she can see Servando’s eyes locked in on them. Tobin starts to talk, her fingers getting a little lower, dipping into the body of the dress, but before she can say even a handful of words, Alex raises her hand from the button she had popped open and turns Tobin’s face towards her. She pulls her in, kissing her, hard. Alex can tell Tobin is confused so she slips her tongue past her lips to get her to reciprocate the kiss. Tobin relaxes and starts kissing Alex back, causing her mind to become slightly foggy.

When Alex finally pulls away, Tobin takes a second to flutter her eyes open. Alex grabs her hand, tugging her up and out of the booth. “Bathroom.” Tobin, still in shock from the kiss, glances back quickly at Ali and Sydney and knew that the plan was working… a little too well. 

Alex pulls her towards the bathroom, pushing open the door and dragging Tobin in. Alex looks around the bathroom then at Tobin once she sees it’s empty. “Now what?”

Tobin pulls her hand out from Alex’s and locks the door to the bathroom, taking the moment that her back is turned to gather herself. “So what was that uh...that kiss.” 

“He was looking.”

“Pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to see your tongue.”

“You said any kind of kissing was fine and Ali and Syd could definitely see.”

“They were quite shocked... as was I.”

“So it worked. And you weren’t giving me a lot to work with for the kiss. I figured you needed a reminder that we do that sort of thing from time to time.”

“Yeah. Uh, okay.” Tobin looks down and starts undoing her belt.

“What are you doing?” Alex asks, alarmed.

Tobin lets the two ends hang open and turns to the mirror, looking at Alex through the glass. “Making it look like we had sex.” Tobin runs her hands through her hair, trying to mess it up. “I’ll help you in a second.”

Alex waits as Tobin unbuttons her shirt and rebuttons it wrong while also leaving a few extra at the top open so that her bra is visible. She messes her shirt up a little more, trying to wrinkle it before turning her attention to Alex, looking her up and down. She reaches her hands out to Alex’s hips and pulls the dress up slightly.

Alex tilts her head to the side as Tobin stares at her chest. “My eyes are up here.”

“I know,” Tobin states as she hooks her fingers through the sides and pulls on it a few times to try and turn it. “When we go back out, rub your thumb over my lip like you’re trying to remove some lipstick.”

Tobin focuses on Alex’s hair and brings her hands up, running her fingers through it then stepping back. “Lean forward.” Alex does as requested and Tobin reaches forward to flip her hair over, pulling it to one side. “Okay you can stand.” She looks Alex over one more time then nods. She hops up on the counter next to the sink. “So you think this is working?”

Alex looks over her reflection, wanting to fix what Tobin had just messed up. “I think everyone’s believing it.” 

“I told you I’m good at this.”

“I didn’t doubt it. I was just worried about everything else.” Tobin hums and starts to look at her phone. “Do you wear dresses?” Alex asks casually, causing Tobin to look up.

“Why? Cause I’m a lesbian that likes sports, I don’t wear dresses?”

Alex shakes her head. “No.”

“Well I do. I asked you about wearing one if you remember but you specifically told me only one of us needed to wear a dress and I was instructed to leave that to you.”

“Yeah still thought you were a guy then so I thought you were kidding about that.”

Tobin looks back down at her phone. “Nope.”

Alex looks at her reflection, fluffing her hair a bit more while they wait. After a few more minutes, Tobin hops down from the counter. “If I see Serv watching, do I have your permission to kiss you.”

Alex nods, “Yeah, as long as it’s not like weird timing.”

“You mean like while you’re talking to your friends, midword.”

Alex places her hands on her hips, slightly glaring. “I think it worked well.”

Tobin shrugs and looks their reflections over once more. “Okay, you ready?”

Alex looks at Tobin’s shirt. “Yes, but can I please fix your shirt. There is no way I would let you walk around like that.”

“Fine.” Tobin moves to unbutton her shirt again but Alex extends her hands out to stop her.

Alex slowly lowers Tobin’s hands. “I can fix it out there.” 

Tobin smirks. “You’re learning quick. Did you want to leave soon or what?” She holds her arm out for Alex to hold onto.

“Yeah, I guess.” She holds onto Tobin’s bicep. “If you want to.”

“No, I’m fine. Took two naps and everything. I just wanted to know how to play it. Should we go dance again or should I drag you back to our hotel room to finish what we ‘started’ in here?”

“Let’s dance for a song or two. Then maybe you can drag me back to the room cause I'm tired.”

Tobin nods and takes a step forward into the dark hallway. She pauses before opening the door and stepping out. Alex hangs on to Tobin tightly as they reenter the main room. Tobin turns to look up at her and Alex leans down to press a soft kiss to Tobin’s lips after seeing Sydney’s eyes on them. When she pulls back she brings her thumbs up to Tobin’s lower lip and rubs it a few times.

“Like this?”

Tobin nods slightly and takes Alex’s hand. “Yeah,” Tobin mouths, inaudible, her eyes slightly hooded. Alex watches Tobin’s face, impressed with the writer’s acting ability even with no one nearby.

Alex leans down to Tobin’s ear to be heard. “Let’s dance.”

Tobin grabs Alex’s hand and pulls her to the dance floor. She turns and takes Alex’s hips again. Alex looks down at Tobin’s shirt and reaches forward to start unbuttoning it, not able to take its unevenness any longer. Alex glances down at the skin revealed by the open shirt and Tobin’s black bra. She then looks away, embarrassed and Tobin leans in towards Alex’s ear. “Go ahead and look. It’s what you paid for.”

Alex glances down and giggles as she looks over Tobin’s skin. She then grabs Tobin’s belt buckle and tightens it in place. Alex leans towards Tobin. “This would be kinda hot if it were real and my friends weren’t watching us.”

Tobin nods, still moving to the music. Alex turns her back to Tobin and resumes dancing. Tobin grabs hold of Alex’s hips and pulls her in. She presses a few closed mouth kisses against Alex’s neck and slides her hand over Alex’s stomach to pull her even closer. Alex reaches her hand up to cup the back of Tobin’s head, mostly forgetting it’s an act and enjoying the feeling of the lips on her neck.

A soft moan that is not audible in the loud room escapes her lips but Tobin can feel the vibrations against her lips. She pulls back to look at Alex when Sydney walks over. “Would you two get a room? I’m serious, go back to your hotel room and stop having sex in front of me.” Sydney looks at Tobin’s open shirt then smiles at Alex. “Nice.”

Tobin grins proudly while Alex blushes, leaning her head against the side of Tobin’s. Tobin turns to Alex’s ear. “You want to go?”

“Yeah. Let’s actually fix your shirt first though.” Alex reaches forward, her fingers brushing Tobin’s warm skin before she finds the shirt edges.

They get back to the room twenty minutes later, Alex’s arm over Tobin’s shoulder while Tobin’s is around her waist. As soon as the door closes, Tobin drops her arm and steps out of Alex’s hold. She walks towards her suitcase while unbuttoning her shirt. 

“Mind if I hop in the shower first. I just wanna wash the sweat off. Five minutes max.” 

Alex nods as she walks to the bed and sits down to take her heels off. 

Thirty minutes later Alex walks out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She sees Tobin is on the couch as she climbs into the large bed. They hadn’t ever officially discussed sleeping arrangements but she does remember joking about making Tobin sleep on the couch. She debates the empty space next to her and offering it to Tobin. The night flashes before her, grinding into Tobin and the writer’s hands holding her tightly against her. Before she can make up her mind fully, her eyes are closing and she’s fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you y'all think?  
> Was the reveal of Tobin's gender what you expected? What about Tobin meeting Syd and Kel? Meeting Servando? Then Tobin and Alex trying to make him jealous


	3. Tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I'm doing a lot of traveling right now and I thought I was going to have more time yesterday to post.

Alex wakes up to the sound of the sink running. She opens her eyes to the darkroom and reaches over for her phone. _8:12._ Tobin walks out of the bathroom in a black sports bra and shorts with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. She doesn’t notice Alex staring at her as she bobs her head while looking through her drawer and brushing her teeth. She stands with a shirt thrown over her shoulder and sees the light from Alex’s phone.

“Hey,” she garbles before heading back to the bathroom. Alex sits up and stretches. She can hear Tobin rinsing out her mouth before reappearing next to the bed with her shirt on. “Did I wake you?”

Alex shakes her head. “Why are you up so early?”

“I was gonna go for a run. Maybe like an hour.” She moves to her drawer to look for socks but glances over at Alex. “Wanna come?”

Alex shrugs, wanting to spend more time with her fake girlfriend. “Why not?” Tobin smiles and shuts her drawer. She sits down while Alex slowly climbs out of bed. “Exercise is supposed to be good for hangovers right?”

Thirty minutes later, they are stepping out of the elevator and walking towards the front of the hotel. “I don’t usually run long distances or at all really so do you mind going a little slower.”

Tobin nods, “I’ll go at your pace.” She motions with her head to Alex’s left while putting on a smile. 

Alex looks over and sees Dom, Servando, and Jose sitting in a seating area each with a coffee mug in hand and dressed in athletic clothes. Dom has a soccer ball under his foot. “Hey,” he smiles as they get closer.

“Where ya going?” Jose asks.

“A run,” Alex responds, taking a step closer to Tobin so their arms brush against each other.

“It’s getting hot out,” Dom warns. “Make sure you stay hydrated.”

Tobin holds up a water bottle. “Already on it.”

Servando looks between the two with a scowl before the fake couple walks away. Once they’re at the front doors, Tobin turns to Alex. “What was his deal?”

Alex smiles, happy that the encounter had happened and bringing Tobin was paying off. “I hated working out with him so he’s probably just overanalyzing things.”

Tobin bops her head twice. “Cool. Even better.”

Alex pops her earbuds in as they walk out. “Where did you want to go run?”

Tobin points to the right. “There’s a park a few blocks that way so I was gonna do a light jog there as a warm-up, do a few laps, then depending on how long that takes, either come straight back or take a longer route.” 

“Okay.” Alex gets her music ready then looks over at Tobin who is waiting for her with a smile. “Did you want headphones? I have an extra pair in my bag.”

Tobin shakes her head. “No. I prefer to listen to my breathing and what’s going on around me but go ahead,” she motions at Alex’s headphones, “we don’t need to be talking.”

Alex nods and doesn’t go to remove them but doesn’t press play either. “Okay. Lead the way.” They start a slow jog, weaving through the midmorning bustle of the city 

Tobin taps Alex’s arm as they get to an intersection and motions to the left at the park entrance across the street. Alex nods and smiles as Tobin moves to push the button while jogging in place. The lights change and they jog across the street. 

They pick up the pace slightly and Tobin points which direction to go as they pass many different forks in the path. Alex eventually turns on her music with a quick tap of her watch. She can tell Tobin is letting her set the pace as she’s barely out of breath after twenty minutes. She holds the water bottle out for Alex when they slow to get around two women with strollers. Alex takes it, thankful for the slight break. She hands it back to Tobin, expecting her to take a sip as well but she just puts the cap back on and waits for Alex to start moving. As they are finishing their second lap Alex notices about ten guys kicking a soccer ball near a goal. A neon yellow shirt catches her eyes and she soon realizes it’s Dom. 

“Hey,” she puffs out while stopping her music. Tobin glances over at Alex then follows her gaze. 

“What do you wanna do?” Tobin asks, barely out of breath.

“We can keep going,” Alex replies, starting her music again. Tobin smiles and looks over again, sticking a hand in the air towards them with a slight wave. Before refocusing on the path in front of her that curves around the open field, she sees Servando looking in their direction. Unfortunately for Tobin, they’re too far apart for her to see the expression on his face.

Once they are out of sight, Tobin holds her hand out to stop Alex. She waits for Alex to slow to a walk and holds out the water. Alex takes a few sips then hands it back. Tobin takes a large gulp and points at Alex’s headphones. 

Alex pulls one bud out. “What if we take a shorter path, speed up the finish then go say hi?”

Alex looks at Tobin confused. “Why?”

“Aren’t we trying to make him jealous? Seeing you sweaty with me, whether it’s from sex or not, still probably won’t make him happy. I could even give you a piggyback to the hotel if you wanted.”

“Um, I’m good on being carried but we can go say hi, though.”

Tobin nods and starts walking. She slows Alex’s pace down and leads her down a new path, cutting their run in half. When they get a few hundred feet away from the fields Tobin holds her arm out again. They stop again and Tobin walks to a bench, using it to stretch her leg. 

“So how do you wanna play this?” she asks. “We could just keep jogging? Race? You could carry me...”

Alex rolls her eyes. “If we raced you would be done before I even make it to the fields.”

“I’d go easy on you. Maybe even let you win.”

“What if we just run together but a little faster?” Alex offers instead.

Tobin nods. “Sounds good.” They wait a few minutes so Alex can catch her breath and make it seem like they’re doing a longer run. 

“Holy shit. I really hate humidity,” Tobin grumbles as she brings up her shirt to wipe her forehead.

Alex nods, mumbling a response while diverting her eyes from the tanned skin Tobin was exposing. “Ready?”

Tobin jumps up and down a few times then nods. Alex takes off and Tobin needs to put in a little effort to catch her. She slows to Alex pace once she’s in step with her, smiling at the sound of their heavy breaths together. 

For a second, she imagines it’s for reasons Alex made very clear were never happening but then Alex picks up the pace as they get closer. Tobin glances over but doesn’t increase her own speed, letting Alex reach her designated finish line a few steps ahead. Alex turns around as Tobin comes to a stop in front of her. Alex is about to fall onto the bench but Tobin grabs her hand. “Nope. Gotta cool down or you’ll be extra sore.” Tobin walks backward, pulling Alex, “Let’s go say hi real quick then we can grab a coffee on the way back.” Tobin turns, disconnecting their hands. “I’ll even let you shower first.”

“Fine.”

“Also I’m going to ask them if I can play and most likely they’ll say no but if they say yes for some reason you can just say you want to go and I’ll give in.”

“Why ask if you’re not going to play?”

“I mean I’d like to play. I love playing. I can explain more later why but it’ll be funny to me even if they never understand why.”

“Okay,” Alex draws out, more confused than anything.

“Hey,” Tobin says as they get closer to Dom. “I thought you guys had already played or I would have asked to join.”

Servando scoffs as he looks over from a few steps away.

“You play?” Dom asks.

“Yeah, I did a little in college till my knee gave out.”

“Do you still play?”

“I kick the ball around but I don’t really have a consistent schedule so I don’t get to play much.” Tobin pats her stomach that Alex knows has very little fat. “I’m not in the same shape I used to be either.”

Servando walks over and puts an arm around Dom’s shoulder. “Let’s go.” Dom turns to the field while Servando shifts his attention to Alex. He smiles at her before turning to Tobin with a glare. “We’ll see you guys at dinner.”

Tobin internally smiles, knowing exactly what he’s doing. “Alright.” She turns to Alex. “Guess they’re worried about me schooling them. Let’s go shower then I want that massage you promised me last night.”

Alex smiles and plays along as she takes Tobin’s hand, very aware they’re being watched. “Why separate the two?” she asks as they turn around.

They walk back to the path then exit the park. They have a half a day to kill before their next planned activity so they decide to make it a lazy day in since they’re both tired from the cross country travel. 

Tobin is sitting at the desk working and Alex is flipping through a book on the bed when there’s a knock on the door. Tobin quickly gets up and tosses the pillow and blanket from the couch onto the bed. She stands awkwardly next to the bed while Alex opens the door for Ashlyn and Kelley. 

Ashlyn walks in, notices the messy bed and glances back at Alex. “Did we interrupt something?”

“No…That’s from earlier. We weren't even doing anything.”

Alex picks up her phone and crawls back onto the bed where she had been before. “Where’s Ali?”

Tobin returns to her seat at the desk and goes back to working. Kelley looks over her shoulder. “Whatcha doing?”

“Just working on a piece. I need like twenty minutes but you guys can talk. I’m used to shouting and stuff while writing so you guys are fine.”

Kelley watches Tobin type for a few more seconds before crawling up onto the bed with Alex and laying her head in her lap. “Why did Syd think it was a good idea to get us drunk for five days straight before her wedding?”

Alex smirks. “So you don’t get super plastered at the actual ceremony.”

“Ugh,” Ashlyn groans. “Bitch is too smart.”

The three friends talk while Tobin works, going well over her self imposed twenty-minute limit as her fingers fly over the keys. “She writing a novel or something?” Kelley asks Alex.

“Probably just a piece she’s doing about WNBA. She’s been really into it.”

Kelley looks back at Tobin. “She’s talking to herself.”

Alex looks and can see Tobin’s mouth moving as she types. Alex nods and rolls out of bed. She wraps her arms around Tobin’s neck from behind and leans down so their faces are next to each other. “You wanna rejoin the real world?” she whispers loud enough that the two others can hear.

Tobin types a few more words then brings a hand up to Alex’s arms. “Sorry.”

“What are you working on?” Alex asks softly, looking at the screen. 

“A story,” Tobin responds. 

“Not ready to divulge?” Alex presses since Tobin has normally been more open with her work.

“Oh, um. I didn't know if you wanted to know everything. So, uh, a few of my friends from when I played are filing a lawsuit and they told me about it so I could get a story ready for when they do announce next week. I saw some of them last week and had asked them to get a few quotes from their teammates.” Tobin turns in her seat to look up at Alex. “I just got the email with their responses and I guess I got caught up in it.”

“Well, can I tear you away or do you need to keep writing?”

Tobin looks back at her computer, saving the document then closing her computer. “Do we need to start getting ready soon?”

“We’re already ready.” Kelley motions between her and Ashlyn. “We’ll grab our bags from Ashy’s room on the way out.”

“Same. I only need to pack my swim stuff and I’ll change when we get there,” Alex says as she moves to the bed. “We have time though.”

Tobin walks to the dresser, “Well I brought two options for tonight.” She turns around with two bikini tops. She looks at Alex and holds them up. “Which do you prefer?”

Alex looks at the two options then points to the one in Tobin’s left hand, “The purple one.”

“What?” Kelley admonishes. “You can’t just pick it all willy nilly.”

“Yeah,” Ashlyn agrees. “You need to model them, Tobin.”

Tobin shakes her head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Well, you can’t expect her to choose which one will make you look the hottest without her seeing them on first.”

“Uh… She’s seen them before,” Tobin lies.

“Okay but _we_ also need to see which one makes you look the hottest. A second opinion won’t hurt.”

“And a third is even better.”

Tobin turns to Alex for help but she only shrugs. “There’s never a point in arguing with them.” She motions towards the bathroom. “You should just go try them on.” Tobin sighs but starts sulking towards the bathroom. “And do the black one first.”

“Yes, mam.” Tobin salutes before shutting the bathroom door.

The three start talking about their friends’ upcoming wedding until the door opens. They all turn towards the entrance as Tobin walks into the main part of the room. She stands awkwardly as the three women look her up and down. 

“That’d make me jealous,” Ashlyn comments, looking back at Alex.

Kelley stands up and walks over to Tobin. Tobin looks at her confused as Kelley pokes her stomach. “Kel what are you doing?” Alex asks as the woman continues poking Tobin’s stomach.

“Dude,” Kelley looks up at Tobin. “Your abs are awesome.”

“Uhhh.” Tobin looks at Alex, unsure about how to handle the situation.

“Kelley, stop it,” Alex scolds.

Kelley holds her hands up and backs away. “I wasn’t trying to make a move. Just pointing out a fact I’m sure you’re _very_ familiar with.” 

Alex looks down at Tobin’s torso, nodding at Kelley’s statement, before telling Tobin to go try the other one on to get it over with.

“Why are you so against seeing her in skimpy clothing?” Ashlyn asks. “You didn’t have her turn or walk.”

Kelley adds, “She’s your girlfriend and she’s got a pretty good body.”

Alex crosses her arms. “I’m not against it.”

Ashlyn raises an eyebrow, “You’re acting like it.”

“I don’t get why this had to be done. I prefer the purple one.”

“Alex,” Kelley puts a hand on Alex’s shin. “Loosen up. You’re taking your girlfriend to a pool party that your ex-boyfriend is going to be at. You gotta at least show her off a little.” Alex sighs but sits back, waiting for her fake girlfriend to reemerge.

When Tobin does walk back into the main room, Ashlyn blows out a low whistle. Alex’s eyes move up and down Tobin’s body. Tobin reaches across her body with one arm, shielding herself partially from the three sets of eyes. 

Kelley hops up again and does a quick lap around Tobin. She flashes a smile at Alex and holds two thumbs up. “We have a winner.”

Alex nods and stands up as well. She places a hand on Tobin’s hip and leans in to press a quick kiss. Tobin visibly relaxes then turns around to grab the shorts and shirt she planned on wearing on top for the casual dinner. Alex quickly changes out of her sweats and gathers her things and they head downstairs to meet the group before heading to dinner.

While they wait for the main courses to come out, Alex sits with her legs draped over Tobin’s in the rounded booth. Tobin absentmindedly rubs her thigh while talking to Ashlyn about her fashion company. Tobin can feel Servando’s eyes on them but she doesn’t give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him. Alex, on the other hand, sneaks a few peeks throughout the meal even with Tobin’s hand on her leg trying to keep her focus elsewhere.

The group eventually all loads into a few cars to drive to the rooftop pool and bar. Alex tells Tobin to get her a drink while she changes. The drinks only take a few seconds so Tobin walks to the pool and sits down on a lounger. She sips her rum and coke and listens to the city noises below them. 

Five minutes later, Alex comes out in a white bikini and a see-through tank top. She bounces over to Tobin and takes her drink. She downs half of it in two gulps then sets it down to pull Tobin up. She pulls at Tobin’s tank top, “Come swim with me.” 

Tobin glances at the small pool then at Alex. “What if I just sit on the side?”

“Nope.” Alex pulls her own shirt off and drops it on top of Tobin’s chair. “You made me run this morning and now my whole body hurts. I need my own personal lifeguard to make sure I don’t die.”

“The pools like 4 feet deep and I didn’t make you do anything.”

Alex pouts and pulls on Tobin’s hand slightly. The writer sighs but nods, it’s what she’s getting paid for. “Fine.” She pulls her hand from Alex’s to undo her shorts and step out of them. As she’s pulling her shirt off Kelley makes her presence known.

“Ow ow.” Kelley walks over with a drink in each hand. “Take it off. Take it off.”

“Are those both for you?” Alex asks.

Kelley smiles and nods. “Open bar.”

Alex rolls her eyes and grabs her drink before guiding Tobin to the stairs. She drops her hand and slowly walks into the warm water. She reaches up to tie her hair on top of her head. “This feels so good.” 

Tobin quickly steps in after her. “How do you wanna play this?”

Alex motions with her head towards the wall. “What if we just talk?”

Tobin nods. “Sounds good.” She puts her arm along the edge and smiles at Alex. “How are you doing?”

Alex takes a sip of her drink before answering. “Not bad. This has been easier than I thought it was going to be.”

Tobin raises an eyebrow. “Even the girl part?”

Alex shrugs. “Yeah. Once I got over that it’s still all fake so it’s kinda like what’s the difference, ya know? And I think the woman part might be pissing him off more so that’s just an added bonus.” Alex laughs softly to herself.

Tobin smirks and takes a small step in. “Anything you want me to change or fix?”

“No. You’re doing great,” Alex praises. “The bathroom thing last night was genius. Everyone really thinks we’re together.”

“Are you shocked that no one’s second-guessing or questioning your sexuality?”

Alex shrugs while sipping her drink again. “It’s not like any of them care about that sort of thing. I think they’re surprised but what’re they gonna do? Say no? I’m sure there was a bunch of talk this morning about it to see if anyone knew or something.” Alex takes another sip then reaches her free hand out of the water to rest it on Tobin’s arm. “You make it pretty easy though. This all seems so real I’m almost believing it.”

Tobin smiles. “You make a pretty good fake girlfriend.”

An hour later, Tobin is sitting on a lounger with a towel wrapped around her waist while waiting for Alex who had disappeared inside to go to the bathroom. Tobin bobs her head to the music as she waits for Alex’s return. After ten minutes, she stands up to grab another drink from the bar. As she gets closer she sees Alex on her toes bent over a pool table to reach the cue ball and Servando a few feet away holding another pool cue. 

Tobin watches them for a moment. Alex's shot misses, Servando says something that causes them both to laugh, and then Alex shoves him when he moves by her to take his shot. Servando bends over to line up his shot, his eyes lock with Tobin’s and he smirks. She turns and raises her hand to get the lifeguard/bartender’s attention. Once she has her drink she walks back out towards the pool since it’s quieter. She sits down but finds herself constantly looking at the pool table so she stands up to force herself to look out at the city instead.

Ali walks over to Tobin, who is now standing in the corner. Ali swirls the mini straw through her drink. “You okay?”

Tobin glances over, quickly steeling herself to play the hurt but stoic girlfriend. “Yeah. Why?”

Ali places a comforting hand on the back of Tobin’s arm. “It doesn’t mean anything. They were together for a long time. I think they’re just trying to be friends for Dom and Syd’s sake.”

Tobin looks over her shoulder at Alex and Servando, still laughing over the game of pool they’re playing, or it’s possibly a new one. Servando is bent over again to line up his shot. “I guess.”

Ali’s eyes linger on the pair of exes before turning back to Tobin. “Why don’t you go over?”

Tobin shakes her head. “If she wants to play with him, who am I to stop her?” She notices a few sets of eyes darting back and forth between her and the two playing pool.

“She doesn’t have feelings for him. She likes you.”

“I wouldn’t call that completely platonic,” Tobin sighs and turns back to look out at the city in front of them. Ali looks and the two are bumping shoulders as Alex tries to move Servando out of her way with a laugh.

“I can go break it up if you want,” Ali offers. “I could try to get a couples game going or something.”

Tobin shakes her head. “I’d rather she find out now if she wants him back or not. Saves me trouble down the road.”

Ali places a comforting hand on Tobin's back. She had come to like the writer’s laid back personality but was seeing a different side, an unconfident side. “Don’t think like that.”

“Just being honest.”

“Do you love her?” Ali asks, quickly adding, “I won’t tell her or anyone.”

Tobin looks back at Alex who is now bent over the table. Servando is looking down at her from a few steps behind and Tobin’s almost positive she knows where his eyes are focused. She thinks about the potential plan she and Alex had come up with, not wanting to ruin it, she nods her head, “Yeah, I kinda think so.”

“Does she know?”

“I mean I haven’t told her...”

“Then you can’t just let her get back with him. You have to fight for her.”

Tobin sighs and answers honestly. “At this point in our relationship, if she still wants him, that’s not something I can change. She brought me here to make him jealous. I know that. I’m fine with that. But I also thought she brought me here to meet her friends. I’m fine with her coming out on her own timeline. I thought that’s what this was and it’s almost like she’s going back in.”

“Do you think she doesn’t want to come out? I mean maybe not to the world but this was a pretty big step for her.”

Tobin nods, even though the whole conversation has been some form of a lie. “I guess she was brave in actually bringing me.”

The two talk for a little while longer before Ali finally gets the hint that Tobin wants to be alone.

Ten minutes later, Alex walks over to the glass wall surrounding the rooftop pool space. She hands Tobin a drink and turns to lean against the glass. “Having fun?” Tobin asks with an unusual tone.

“Yeah,” Alex smiles, not catching the slight menace in Tobin’s voice. “You?”

“Can’t say I was particularly happy you decided to play pool with Servando. I came over here to make it seem like I was sulking.” Tobin leans into the railing more. “But the city really is pretty at night.”

Alex looks at Tobin then tries to defend herself, “We used to play all the time together. Our favorite bar had a table so we both got pretty good at it. He asked me to play and I didn’t want to be rude.”

Tobin shrugs and takes a sip of her drink. “It’s your life. You’re paying me to be here. You can do whatever you want. I’m just letting you know that I’m not the only one who noticed. Ali came over to see how I was 'cause of it and others were looking back and forth.”

Alex looks around at her friends as they sit in or around the pool, drinking and having fun. “What did she say?”

“Well, she was telling me it meant nothing but we both knew she was lying to make me feel better.” Tobin laughs to herself. “We also talked about how hard it’s been for you to come out. Funny though, since you’re not actually gay. Then I also kinda put it out there that I wasn’t sure if you really wanted to be with me which will give you the perfect set up for when we break up Sunday. You can take sole credit for that one.” 

Tobin takes a sip of her drink and turns back to Alex. “Oh, and I told her I might love you so we can do that storyline if you want but I think you need to be a little less touchy-feely with Serv. Especially if you want people to think you’re for real about dating me...Unless you want me to say I love you to try and stop you from doing stuff with him, show them you can get anyone to fall for you.”

Alex reaches up and strokes her cheek with her thumb, wondering how good of an actor Tobin is versus actually being hurt. She can’t tell if it’s real or fake but it certainly feels real and she realizes if Tobin were really her girlfriend, she wouldn’t have ditched her to play pool with Servando. She wraps her arms around Tobin’s neck and buries her face into the crook. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “Can you forgive me?”

Tobin nods and Alex pulls back. She stares into Alex’s eyes, “I mean you’re paying me. I’ll do whatever you want. But if you want to get back with him I could start a fight and you can break up with me.”

Alex shakes her head. “I don’t want to be with him.”

Tobin turns and looks towards the bar area where there are two pairs of eyes on them, Sydney's and Servando's. “So then how do you want to play this?”

“Uh. Could you just forgive me and we spend the rest of the night like making out in the pool or something?” 

Tobin turns back to Alex with one eyebrow raised. “You want to go make out in the pool?”

Alex’s jaw drops, “Uhhh, that’s not what I meant.”

Tobin shrugs. “I mean we can but remember going any further is-”

“-not going to happen.” Alex shakes her head. "We should kiss a bit so they know we’re okay and stuff. Then maybe we go play ping pong or something.”

Tobin smirks. “Okay.” She grabs the drink from Alex’s hand and sets it down on a nearby table with her own. She then pushes Alex against the glass. Alex inhales suddenly and blinks up at Tobin before closing her eyes as their lips connect.

They had kissed before, making out plenty last night, but the lack of clothes wasn’t helping Alex remember this was all for show. The skin to skin and the way Tobin’s hands hold onto her hips bring her own hand up and tangle in Tobin’s damp hair. Alex’s tongue slips out and she swipes it across Tobin’s lower lip. Tobin’s fingers dig into her hips and pull her closer. Alex is about to do it again when there is a loud gag from next to them. 

“Could you stop reminding me I’m single,” Kelley demands. Tobin turns to see Kelley approaching. “Thank you. Tobin you any good at ping pong? I feel like you’d be good and I need a partner.”

Tobin shrugs and puts her hand over Alex’s far shoulder. “I feel like it might be dangerous for me to play anywhere near you.”

“Yeah.” Alex holds Tobin around her waist and rests her chin on her shoulder. “I don’t want her to have a black eye for the wedding.”

“She’ll be fine.” Kelley grabs Tobin’s arm and drags her out of Alex’s grip. Alex picks up their drinks and follows after them. She stays within arm’s reach of Tobin for the rest of the night. 

After their game, Alex is leaning against the bar, laughing at Kelley who is hounding Tobin for details about their relationship. Servando comes up to the bar behind her to grab a beer. As he waits for it to be poured he turns to Alex. “Want a rematch?”

Alex turns, slipping her fingers through Tobin's as she does. “No, We’re gonna get in the pool soon as Kel is done interrogating Tobs.”

Servando looks over her shoulder and sees Tobin and Kelley both staring at him. “Alright.” He turns and heads toward a group of the groom’s men that are talking in a corner.

Tobin leans over to Alex’s ear. “Is this where we go make out?”

Alex shakes her head. “We don’t have to. I just needed an excuse.” She leans around Tobin to look at Kelley. “Want to come swim with us?”

“And watch you two make out some more? No, I’m good.”

Tobin can’t help but laugh while Alex’s cheeks heat up. “We wouldn’t just start making out in front of you.”

“Mhmm,” Kelley replies skeptically. “Alright fine, but I get to dunk you if you do.”

Alex rolls her eyes but nods. “Pointless but fine.”

Kelley grabs her drink and follows them into the pool. They walk over to Ali and Ashlyn. Ali is sitting on a floatie with Ashlyn leaning on the side. Alex sees Ali eyeing them and puts her arm around Tobin’s bicep. “So, Tobin,” Kelley turns, “what makes you think you’re good enough to date Alex?”

Tobin doesn’t even need a moment. “I never said I was. I’m just trying my hardest to keep her happy.” Tobin turns to look at Alex. “And I just keep hoping she won’t figure it out.” 

Alex’s heart speeds up slightly as she looks into Tobin’s eyes but soon a splash of water hits them and breaks the moment. 

“Way to ruin their moment Kel,” Ali chastises. 

Kelley shrugs as she sets her cup down on the side of the pool. “I warned them no kissing and Alex was totally about to jump her.”

“No I wasn’t,” Alex insists. Tobin smirks and shrugs next to her, causing Ashlyn to laugh. Alex looks to Tobin who connects their hands underwater and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“You good?”

Alex nods. She turns and sees Sydney lounging on one of the chairs with Dom. Sydney smirks at her and blows a kiss before turning back to her future husband. 

“So Tobin,” Ali says to get her attention, “I still haven’t heard the story of how you two met.”

“Oh, uh, at a basketball game a few months ago. I was her one-night stand that never left.”

Ashlyn laughs and Alex shakes her head. “Tell the real story.”

Tobin rolls her eyes. “Fine.” She turns back to Ali. “We were seated next to each other at a basketball game and I just kept bugging her-”

“Were you guys there for the same reason?”

Tobin shakes her head before retelling the story, with Alex having to cut in once or twice to stop Tobin’s self-deprecating comments. By the time she finishes, Kelley has left and returned with a beer.

Ashlyn turns the floatie Ali is in to press a kiss against her temple. Alex watches it and turns to Tobin. ‘ _Kiss me_ ,' she mouthes. Tobin leans down and presses a kiss to Alex’s cheek. When she stands back up Alex subtly shakes her head. ‘ _No. For real._ ’

Tobin shakes her head, looking at her pointedly. Alex lightly kicks her underwater and Tobin shakes her head while grabbing Alex’s hand and leading her a little bit away from the group. Once they’re far enough away that they won’t be overheard, Tobin turns around. “That would have been too obvious. I’m fine with doing it when he’s watching cause I’m here to make him jealous but your friends are smarter than that. This is a real relationship as far as they’re concerned.”

Alex puts her hands on her hips but knows Tobin’s right. Alex sighs and drops her head and hands. “Yeah, okay. Give me a ride back over?”

Tobin smirks and nods. “That could lead to kissing if you wanted.” She turns around and Alex snakes her arms then legs around Tobin. She leans down to Tobin’s ear.

“I might pretend to whisper some dirty stuff to you.”

“Go for it,” Tobin replies as they reach their original spots.

“Where’d you disappear off to?” Kelley asks with a grin.

“We were right there.” Alex points a few feet away. Alex tilts her head to Tobin’s ear. “She’s so annoying.”

Tobin shrugs. “She’s just lonely.”

“So true,” Kelley agrees. ”You are all my plus one to this wedding.”

“I’m not sleeping with you Kel,” Ashlyn calls.

“Same,” Tobin agrees.

“Rude.”

Alex leans down to Tobin’s ear. “Dirty dishes.”

Tobin starts laughing loudly and Alex can’t help but laugh too. Kelley splashes them again, thinking they’re laughing at her. After a few minutes, Kelley climbs out of the pool again to play a game with Allie.

Alex sees Ali watching them out of the corner of her eye. She leans down to Tobin’s ear. “Ali’s watching. Kiss me.”

Tobin tilts her head and Alex presses her lips against Tobin’s. Tobin reaches her far hand up to hold the back of Alex’s head. Alex drops her legs from Tobin’s waist and they shift so Alex is in front of Tobin. Alex starts to pull away but Tobin pulls her back in. After another few seconds, Tobin drops her hands and they break apart. Alex leans in to hug Tobin while subtly looking around. 

“How was that?” Tobin whispers. Servando is glaring daggers at her right now but she doesn’t want to mention his name to Alex. 

“It worked.” Ali had fully turned to talk to Ashlyn, meaning she had seen it. They break apart and head to the stairs to dry off before leaving.

When they get back to the room, Alex lets Tobin shower first to wash the pool water off. They wordlessly switch places. While Alex soaps up her body she has a conversation with Tobin in her head. She dries herself off, taking her time getting her pajamas on, not sure if she wants Tobin to be awake when she walks out.

The light is still on when Alex finally opens the door. Tobin is lounging on the couch looking at her phone held above her face. 

“Tobin?” Alex almost whispers.

Tobin turns her head. “Yeah.” 

“I’m sorry about today.” Tobin looks at her confused so Alex elaborates. “With Serv. I should have stayed with you.”

Tobin shakes her head and looks back up at her phone. “Seriously it’s fine. You can do whatever you want. I get paid regardless. I was just acting how I figured you’d want me to act. I can be more blasé about it if you prefer.”

“No, I want this to seem real and normal. You did the right thing. I was the one that fucked up. You’re my girlfriend. I shouldn’t be hanging around him like that.”

“Cool, you’re forgiven.” Tobin turns to Alex. “You can shut the light off if you’re ready to go to bed.”

Tobin turns on her side with her back to Alex. Alex reaches over to turn off the light. She falls asleep with the night on her mind. How comfortable she felt playing pool with Servando. Just like old times. When they were happy. But also her time with Tobin. Listening to her talk to her friends like she had been part of their group for years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo...what'd ya think? Favorite part?


	4. Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little shorter but there's a subtle change in their relationship.

Tobin wakes up early again to go for a run. Alex rolls over and pulls the sheet up over her head to block out the light and noise. 

When Tobin returns, Alex is in the shower so she pulls off her sweaty shirt and leans against the desk while she looks through her phone. The phone vibrates when Alex walks through the door. She reads the message before looking up. Alex smiles at Tobin while walking by to get some clothes. 

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Tobin asks.

"Um… today's kinda boring. Dom and Syd's last dance class is at 11 which we are invited to go to if we want, then after there's some trip to a winery. I don't want to do either of those though. Then dinner and bowling tonight." 

"So basically the whole day is free?"

"Yeah."

Tobin glances at her phone. "Would it be cool if I went and met a friend for a few hours?"

"Uh. Yeah sure." Tobin quickly starts texting. "Who are you going to see?" Alex asks then adds, "Just so I know what to tell people." 

"Um, my friend Katie. She works at ESPN too but does more on-air stuff and she has a podcast that she's been asking me to do for a while."

"Oh… should I come?"

"Uh, I mean I guess you can but we're not pretending you're my girlfriend so you don't need to. I’d just tell them you’re a friend if you do."

"Oh right. Then I guess I'll just see who’s staying and hang out with them."

Tobin sets her phone down. "I'm going to shower then do you want to go get some food."

"And coffee."

Tobin smiles and nods. "You do still owe me coffee."

An hour later the two are seated at a small cafe with large coffees. Alex has a large pile of French Toast and Tobin has an omelet.

"So," Alex finishes chewing and swallows, "why are you single?"

Tobin shrugs. "Why are you?"

"I was recently dumped then have been busy with work."

"I haven't had a lot of time either cause I travel and I just haven't met the right person, not that I’m really looking."

Alex nods, effectively dropping the conversation. Tobin then starts to question Alex about her college days to get more information on the group. When they’re done eating, Alex realizes Tobin spent most of the meal listening and nodding as Alex talked about herself, and that’s why she must be really good at her job. 

They go back to the hotel for a little while before Tobin has to leave. Kelley joins them as a lot of the group is dancing. Tobin sits next to Alex on the couch. She has one arm over Alex but her focus is on her phone. Alex watches as she sends dumb sport texts to the Katie person about possible questions for the dumb podcast. A little before noon she says she’s gonna leave and walks out the door excited. Alex is almost upset that she doesn’t get a kiss goodbye.

A few hours later, Alex sits with Ali and Kelley, each having their feet scrubbed. Alex is watching her phone, waiting for Tobin to respond to her text. She feels a slap on her arm and looks over to see Ali and Kelley staring at her.

"What?"

"I asked you what color you were getting," Ali explains. 

"Oh." Alex holds up a bottle of silver nail polish. "It goes with everything I’m wearing for the rest of the week."

"You waiting for Tobin to text you back?"

Alex looks at the phone in her hand. "Uh yeah. She said she'd be done at three and it's almost three-thirty."

"I was there. She said at the earliest three." Kelley adds.

"She's with a friend that she probably doesn't get to see all that often."

"She could at least text me. I'm going to tell her to meet us here if she's done soon."

"She's recording a podcast. She probably has her phone off."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You jealous?" Kelley asks. 

“No,” Alex shoots back quickly.

Ali nods. “Seems like it.”

Alex isn’t sure exactly what’s going on in her own head but she knows she can’t explain it to her friends without giving up their whole scam. She sets her phone down and starts talking, not sure what is going to come out. “I don’t know. I trust her but… ya know. She’s still kinda mad about last night.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” Ali asks. “I was mad for her.”

“It didn’t mean anything.”

“She was still pretty upset. I thought she was about to cry when I started asking her about it.”

Alex makes a mental note that Tobin might deserve a bonus on top of what she’s already paying her. She knew she was buying someone who was intellectual but a good actor on top of it. She was getting more than she paid for because everyone seriously believed the two were together better than she could have imagined once she realized Tobin was a woman. She was even starting to believe it herself.

“We talked. I apologized. I didn’t realize what I was doing.”

“Well, Serv did,” Kelley says. “He had his eyes all over you and he and Tobin have been having some sort of unspoken fight over you.”

“Well, he’s losing pretty bad then isn’t he since I’m not with him.”

Ali shrugs and hands her nail polish down to the woman. “He won a battle yesterday.”

“I ended the night with Tobin.”

“Make up sex?” Kelley asks.

Alex’s cheeks flush slightly but not for the reason the other two believe. They laugh at Alex’s expense anyway while she goes back to watching her phone.

Tobin texts her at 4:30 saying she’s on her way back to the hotel. Alex texts her to meet in Ali and Ashlyn’s room. Alex quickly rolls off the bed when there is a knock on the door twenty minutes later. Tobin looks startled when Alex pulls the door open with a large smile. “Hi.”

Tobin looks over Alex’s shoulder then leans in, pressing her lips to Alex’s cheek. “Hey, babe.”

Alex takes Tobin’s hand and pulls her into the room. “How was it?”

“It was fun. We basically just talked sports for like three hours till we got kicked out of the booth. She’s pretty funny and I liked the two people she works with.”

Alex nods, “Was that it?”

Tobin shakes her head. “We went out to lunch first. Well more like breakfast for her since she hadn’t even been into work yet. So I met one of her producers there then at the office I talked to a few people that I didn’t get to see last week.”

“When can I listen to it?” Alex asks, already having a few episodes in her queue after slightly stalking the other woman to find out more about her. 

Tobin shrugs. “A few days I guess but you don’t have to listen to it.”

Even if it’s after their scheduled week of being a fake couple Alex knows she’s going to listen to it. Even if it’s just to hear Tobin’s voice and learn more about her, learn about the real her and not the act she’s putting on for the group and to an extent, her.

They hadn’t yet fully discussed what would happen to their relationship following their trip home but Alex hoped they could stay friends. Tobin’s presence was comforting and she was different from her friends in LA who were all business-oriented. Tobin was into her work but her work was exciting, even if it wasn’t interesting to Alex.

Tobin gets pulled into a conversation with Ashlyn who was slightly tipsy from the wine tasting she had gone on. Kelley pulls Alex back onto the bed. “See. She came back and it doesn’t look like she just rolled out of bed. Or if she did, the Katie girl is a lot better at covering it up than you are.”

Alex pushes Kelley away and looks at Tobin. Kelley’s right, her clothes seem pretty well kept, just the slight wrinkles from wear throughout the day. Alex rests her head on Kelley’s thighs but turns to focus on Tobin. Tobin is telling Ashlyn a story about some sports thing that happened a few years ago. Alex doesn’t fully listen to the story but just enjoys the relaxing lull of Tobin’s voice.

Alex wakes up to Tobin, gently stroking her cheek. “Hi,” Tobin says softly. “Tired?” Alex shrugs as she rolls over and stretches out on the empty bed. “We should go get ready. We’re leaving in like thirty minutes.” 

Alex looks around and Ashlyn is munching on chips while watching television on the couch but otherwise they are alone. Alex sits up and nods. Tobin helps her stand up then waves to Ashlyn as they head to the door. “Later Ali,” Tobin says to the closed bathroom door.

“Wait.” The door is pulled open and Ali steps out in a bra and tight jeans. Alex glances over at Tobin but she seems unphased by the lack of clothes her friend is wearing. “We should be a team tonight. Maybe pick up Kel if we need a fifth.”

“So what, you want a gay team?” Tobin asks.

Ali shrugs. “I mostly just don’t want to be on a team with Bati or Serv. They’re both way too competitive.”

Tobin shrugs and looks at Alex. “Fine by me.”

Alex yawns and nods. “Sounds good.”

They walk out hand in hand and their hands stay connected even though there is no one in the hall. Only once they’re in their room they drop hands so that they can change.

Alex catches Tobin watching her change through the mirror. She enjoys the feeling of Tobin’s eyes on her, the feeling of being wanted. She pretends not to notice and instead of pulling on the shirt she has in front of her, decides to look through her other clothes. She turns to Tobin, whose eyes immediately shoot up to Alex’s face. 

Alex puts her hands on her hips. “Can I borrow that button up you wore Monday?”

“Uh, yeah.” Tobin walks over to her suitcase. “It’s probably a little smelly cause I was sweating.”

Alex shrugs, “That’s fine. I have a spray,” and follows Tobin. Tobin bends down and riffles through her suitcase for a moment until her she finds the shirt and pulls it out for Alex. Alex shakes it out and walks over to the ironing board. She turns the iron on then looks at Tobin who is still watching her. “So are you having a good time?”

Tobin nods. “Your friends have all been nice. Well, all but Servando but that’s not surprising.”

Alex shrugs. “He’s just jealous 'cause he thought I was coming alone. Just like they never told me he was coming alone they didn’t tell him I was bringing someone.” She looks down and starts to needlessly adjust her bra. She knows it’s wrong but she hadn’t felt the look of want without being disgusted by the person giving it in a long time and she was enjoying it. 

“What do you think?” Alex asks, looking up then turning to the ironing board. “Bra or no bra?”

Tobin blinks. “Uh. I don’t know. It’s up to you.”

Alex takes her time smoothing out the wrinkles while she thinks, enjoying the spray’s sent as the iron turns it to steam. Tobin eventually moves from the floor and quickly changes into a striped t-shirt and ripped jean shorts.

Alex sets the iron down and holds up the shirt for a moment to make sure she got all the wrinkles out. She turns away from Tobin and reaches behind her to unclip her bra. She quickly pulls the shirt on and turns to Tobin after getting a few buttons in place. 

“What do you think?”

Tobin bites her lip and nods. “Great.”

Alex smiles, finishes buttoning her shirt, and holds out a hand. “Take a picture with me.” 

“Uh, sure.”

“Kel was wondering about why I didn’t have you on my screen since I used to have a pic of me and Serv.” Alex holds her phone and waits for Tobin to reach her side. She puts her arm around Tobin and takes a few. She turns to look at Tobin, taking a few more before pressing her lips to Tobin’s cheek.

When Alex looks at the phone, she is happy with a handful of the pictures and sets one with her lips against Tobin’s cheek as her lock screen.

“We look good together,” Alex comments.

Tobin shrugs. “I think you’d look good with anyone.” 

They eventually make their way to the vans to take them to the bowling alley. The four group up and Kelley wedges her way in, plopping onto Ashlyn’s lap with a laugh. “Oh, Ash. Stop it. Ali’s right there.”

Ashlyn rolls her eyes and leans back. “So we’re doing the gay team?”

“Yep. Shottie first,” Kelley calls. “We need a team name.” 

“Rockin’ rainbows,” Alex says as she sits down next to them.

Tobin rolls her eyes and finishes tying her shoes. She then starts entering everyone’s name onto the screen.

“It’s e-y,” Servando says from behind her.

Tobin glances over her shoulder then up at the screen. She corrects the misspelling and finishes adding the rest of the names, cognizant of Servando standing over her. Alex walks over to Tobin, ignoring her ex. “You ready, babe?”

Tobin smiles and looks up. “Yep.” She stands and Alex leans in to kiss her quickly. Alex looks over at Servando with a smirk.

Servando takes Tobin’s seat and starts entering his own name into the board on the adjacent lane. Alex pulls Tobin down into the seat next to her. After three frames, Alex is watching the unspoken battle between Tobin and Servando.

Alex stands as Tobin walks back to her after a spare and hugs her. “This is supposed to be fun,” she says softly.

Tobin hugs her back. “I know but he’s so smug.”

Alex takes Tobin’s hand and leads her to the beer. “This is fake,” Alex quietly reminds her.

“I’m still competitive.”

“You’ve already won then.”

Tobin turns and looks at the scoreboards above their respective lanes. “He’s winning.”

“You’ve won me.”

“Not actually.”

“Fine.” Alex shrugs as she goes to take her turn. “Kick his ass.”

Tobin grins. “With pleasure.”

Tobin wins by two pins after Alex distracts him during a frame. Alex plops herself down on the writer’s lap. “Happy?”

Tobin nods and puts her hand on the legs Alex has draped over her lap. “Ecstatic.”

Alex looks down at Tobin’s fingers that are tapping on her skin absentmindedly. She reaches to place her hand over the top of Tobin’s and lets their fingers lace together. “Good.”

Tobin smiles and brings up her other hand to the back of Alex’s neck. “I’m gonna kiss you,” Tobin says quietly, barely moving her lips as she pulls Alex down to her.

Alex’s eyes flutter closed and she lets Tobin pull her the entire way. The light kiss turns heated. Tobin’s fingers dig into Alex’s side while Alex grips Tobin’s shoulders to keep her from moving away. They only pull away when Ashlyn starts flicking an unknown liquid on them. Alex pulls back, wiping her face. “What the fuck?”

“It was getting a little too hot. I was trying to cool you guys down.”

Alex rolls her eyes and looks at Tobin with another eye roll. Tobin’s cheeks seem a little red from getting caught. 

“Sorry.”

Tobin shrugs and looks around.

“So did he see?” Alex asks softly.

“Huh?”

“The kiss?...Serv.”

“Oh…” Tobin looks over Alex’s shoulder and sees Servando staring daggers at them. “Yeah.”

Alex grins and bops Tobin’s nose with her finger. “Perfect. Good call.” She hops off Tobin’s lap and heads to get a drink. Tobin rubs her eyes before standing up to follow after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think so far?  
> I'm going away again for an interview and won't be able to post a new chapter for a bit but trust me Thursday will knock your socks off! (that's your cliffhanger). Send good vibes


	5. Thursday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what you've all been waiting for...

Alex watches Tobin brush her hair out, “You sure you don’t want to come with us?”

Tobin looks at her through the mirror. “You told them I was going with the guys today.”

“When I thought you were a guy.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know you just found out. To them, you’ve known all along.” 

“I can say I changed my mind and I want you with me today instead. They won’t question it.”

“It’s fine Alex, seriously. We’re fishing then going to a bar for a few hours. I can handle myself.”

“What about Serv?”

“What about him? I’ll ignore him for the most part but talk to him if I have to. I text you if anything happens that you need to know about.”

“Alright.” She glances down at the bedside clock. “I have to go.”

Tobin looks herself over, happy with her appearance. “I’ll walk you down.” She grabs her wallet and phone. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

As they ride down in the elevator, Alex glances over at Tobin. “How are you so good at this? Noone’s even questioned us as a couple. They all truly believe we’re together.”

“It’s about understanding what people want to see. What _you_ need from a girlfriend and what your friends expect of your girlfriend.”

“Yeah right. You just like getting physical. I’m sure every chick you’ve done this with has wanted to sleep with you. I feel like you’re a gay girl magnet and anyone that didn’t ask to sleep with you wanted to but was too nervous to ask. You’re like the BMW of escorts. It’s even costing me an arm and a leg.”

Tobin shrugs. “You get what you pay for.” Tobin looks at their reflections in the elevator doors, smoothing out her hair. “There’s no scheming or tricks.” The doors open and they step out. “It’s not about me. I’m not trying to hop into bed with any of them. This is solely about the hypothetical you. You just like feeling wanted and understood which is what I put out for them and because of that, things sometimes go further.”

Alex glances over at Tobin as they enter the large lobby. “Show me.”

“What?”

Alex stops and puts her bag down on a table and turns to Tobin, crossing her arms. “Show me these magical ways.”

Tobin looks around, making sure there isn’t anyone that can hear them. She sees most, if not all of the bridal party, waiting at the front of the lobby, unaware of their presence. She places one hand on Alex’s hip and forcefully backs her into a marble pillar a few feet away. Alex’s smug expression changes into confusion as Tobin steps very much into her personal space.

“Close your eyes.” Alex continues looking into Tobin’s eyes, so she repeats the command. Alex looks over at her group of friends then back at Tobin before slowly letting her eyelids flutter shut. Alex can feel Tobin’s warm breath on her lips as she leans in even closer.

“I’m not going to kiss you,” Tobin softly says. She brings a hand up to the side of Alex’s face, stroking her cheek with the pad of her thumb. Her other hand goes back to her hip, barely touching the fabric that cover’s Alex’s torso. “Just relax.” Her hand slides down and softly strokes the base of Alex’s neck. “He regrets losing you. We can all see it.” Alex tilts her head back and Tobin leans in, her lips millimeters from Alex’s neck. “Stop thinking about him. Forget about him. You’re better than him. You deserve better than him.” 

Tobin adjusts her grip so she is holding the side of Alex’s neck. “Forget the pain he caused. Focus on the now. You’re a better you.” Her lips move so they are now hovering over Alex’s. “And remember what an amazing woman you are.” A breath catches in Alex’s throat as she breathes in Tobin’s scent. “If you can remember all of that, then any guy will be lucky to have you.” 

Tobin steps back and Alex slowly opens her eyes. “I get it now,” she breathes out, slumping against the pillar. “You’re worth every penny.”

Tobin leans in slightly and Alex’s eyes flutter closed, prepared for Tobin to intoxicate her again. Tobin rolls to Alex’s side against the pillar with a smirk. “I think they’re waiting for you.”

Alex opens her eyes again, looking straight ahead. “Mmhm.”

“You should probably go.”

Alex nods and straightens herself. She turns and starts walking back towards the elevator. Tobin grabs her hips with a soft laugh and turns her around, “Right,” and gives her a little shove towards the group. Tobin looks at her phone, seeing she still has half an hour to kill before she has to meet the groom and company. She’s about to head back up to her room when she spots Alex’s purse still on the table. 

Tobin grabs it and jogs to meet the group of women before they leave. She weaves through the women to get to Alex who is at the front with Sydney.

“Thought you might want this,” she says as she comes to a stop in front of Alex.

“Right,” Alex grins. “Where was my head?”

“Why don’t you come with us,” Sydney offers as Tobin starts to turn back.

Tobin shakes her head. “Oh, I couldn’t.” 

“Come on,” Kelley argues, wanting to get to know Tobin even better.

“I think Alex deserves a day of drinking with you guys without me. If I go, she’ll spend more time focused on me. Just make sure she has sine fun.”

Ali steps in between Sydney and a smiling Alex as Ashlyn and Kelley continue to try to get Tobin to stay with them. “Can you believe Alex actually gets to fuck her?” Alex’s smile drops while Sydney starts laughing. “No, really,” Ali continues, “she seems great. You hit the jackpot, Al.” 

Alex elbows her and Ali elbows her right back with a laugh. Alex reaches out to grab Tobin’s hand. She leans towards her ear as she gives her a hug, whispering, “I bet you like getting paid and all this attention just for being yourself.”

“Who says this is me?” Tobin replies softly as Kelley tries to step in again. Tobin shakes her head and holds up a hand. “I would love to see what is planned but I don’t want to cramp anyone’s style.” 

Alex gives her a quick kiss as a goodbye and Ashlyn whoops. Alex turns with a shy smile. “You call that a kiss?” Kelley adds.

Alex takes Tobin’s hand and pushes her out of the circle before anyone can say anything more. Alex turns back and puts one arm around Tobin’s neck and leans in. The kiss doesn’t end as quickly as the first one and instead, Alex backs Tobin up into the railing of the stairs the group was about to descend. Tobin gasps and reaches for the railing to steady herself. Alex pulls Tobin in closer as she breathes her in, something she had wanted to do a few minutes before.

Tobin’s eyes open for a second as the kiss keeps going. She can hear the group of women cheering Alex on and closes her eyes again. They keep kissing for a few more seconds until Alex pulls back. They look into each other’s eyes for a brief moment before Alex turns back to her friends and Tobin turns to walk towards the elevator. 

Once locked in the small metal space alone, Tobin takes a few breaths, leans back and rubs her face. “Holy crap.” That feeling stays with her when she boards the bus with the rest of the bachelor party thirty minutes later. Dom waves her over to the seat across the aisle from him. Tobin goes to sit, knowing Dom had definitely been instructed to talk to her and make her feel included. 

“So Syd said you write for ESPN.”

Tobin nods. “Yeah. I mainly do soccer but I do some minor pieces for the other LA teams when needed.”

“You a Galaxy fan or LAFC.”

“Galaxy." They talk soccer for the rest of the ride to the marina. Tobin can see in her peripheral that Servando is not pleased. 

Once on the boat, Dom has Tobin sit in the spot next to him. Tobin is pretty sure Dom is trying extra hard to make her feel more welcome, either because Sydney told him to or he’s just a good guy. She’s having fun regardless, hearing stories about Alex’s college days from the other side. Servando sits on the other side of the boat, keeping his distance from Tobin.

Hours later, in a high-end bar that had been rented out for the bachelor party, Tobin sits at a table nursing the same drink she had been for the last twenty minutes or so. Her eyes were focused on the replayed soccer game being shown on the television above the bar. After a while, she stands and heads to the bathroom. She can hear raised voices as she walks down the hall towards the women’s room. “Why do you have to do this now? She’s with someone else. She’s happy.”

“We were good together. She was happy with me.” 

Tobin pushes open the door slowly and sees a small seating area. The smell of cigar smoke hits her a second later.

“Then why did you sleep with all those other chicks?” She recognizes Dom’s voice. 

Now Servando’s. “I don’t know. It was only three. It was stupid.” 

“You can’t tell her now. It could ruin everything.” She steps into the women’s room and slowly starts to walk towards the sound of the two men.

“But I love her and she deserves to be wi-” Tobin rounds the corner just as the door bangs shut and they both pause. “-be happy.” Servando nods at Tobin, puts his cigar out on the counter before walking around her, and out the door. 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Tobin says. “I didn’t think anyone else would be in here cause...”

They stand in silence after she trails off, the previous conversation swirling around the room like the smoke. Dom takes a few puffs of his cigar then holds it out to Tobin but she waves him off.

“How much of that did you hear?” Dom asks to break the awkward silence.

“Uh.” Tobin wonders how much she should say since she’s not entirely sure what she heard. “Enough that I think I understood.”

He nods and takes another puff, watching the smoke rise. “We didn’t know while they were dating. We didn’t find out until months later.”

Tobin nods, his comments confirming what she thought she’d heard. “Alex doesn’t know?” she questions, pretty sure she already knows the answer.

“No,” he answers. “When we found out, Syd didn’t think telling her would do her any good. She was still really upset about the break-up and why add any more pain. We thought she was still getting over it until a few weeks ago when she called to say she was bringing someone. Then she didn’t want to tell her if she was happy and ruin it. She wanted to tell her in person too.” Tobin hums, taking it all in. “You can’t tell her,” Dom quickly states, “at least not before the wedding. We’re not sure how she’ll react and if it goes bad it could ruin the wedding.”

Tobin nods but stays silent, her position in this conversation isn’t what Dom thinks it is and she doesn’t know how to react. She’s never been in this type of situation before.

“She seems a lot happier now than her last year with him,” Dom offers. “I don’t know if it’s cause she realized she’s gay or whatever but you seem to have a lot to do with that.”

“I don’t think it’s only me.”

“The way you guys act is how a good couple acts. Can’t keep your hands or eyes off of each other.” 

“Isn’t that how every couple acts in the early stages?”

“Why are you denying it? How you look at her is no different than how she looks at you.”

Tobin shakes her head, knowing Alex is most certainly not looking at her the same way, actually being professional, something she herself has been slightly failing at. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“Exactly.”

“Yeah, but she’s still not fully cool with the dating a woman thing. I don’t know.” Tobin tries to think about what to say with the week nearing its end. She decides to keep giving Alex the easy out later on. She glances down at her feet. “I think she’s going to break up with me after this.”

“What?” Dom looks at Tobin in shock, the cigar halfway up to his mouth. “What makes you think that? Syd hasn’t said anything, which makes me think Alex hasn’t told her that. I think you’re fine. She brought you here. She wouldn’t have done that if she was going to break up with you. She totally likes you.”

“She wants to make him think that she's moved on.”

Dom counters, “She has moved on.”

“It’s just a feeling,” Tobin explains, looking back up. “I mean think about it, she didn’t tell any of you she was dating at all, female or not. She’s trying but I think it’s too much for her. I can feel her pulling away.”

“Her not telling us could have just been the girl thing though, couldn’t it? She’s probably been nervous about telling us and seeing Serv, so her mind has been all over the place.”

Tobin shrugs. “I don’t know.” She glances towards the stalls, her reason for entering the bathroom coming back into her mind. She points to the stalls. “I uh, actually came in here for a reason.”

“Oh right,” Dom hops down off the counter. “Sorry.” 

As Tobin washes her hands a minute later she looks at her reflection in the mirror. She dries her palms on her pants then pulls out her phone. She stares at the screen, looking at the last few messages she and Alex had sent the previous day while contemplating what to tell her. She groans, she’ll tell her when it’s all done if Sydney doesn’t. She types out a different message instead.

 ***Hope you’re having fun. Miss you!**

Back in the city, Alex sits with Ali at a high top table. Alex continues questioning Ali about her life with Ashlyn to keep her from asking any questions about her and Tobin. The music changes dramatically as a man and a woman come around the corner. The man is wearing pants and a tie. The woman has a short, plaid skirt held up by suspenders that curve around her large chest that is covered by a tight, white, button-down shirt tied in the middle.

Sydney holds her arms up in celebration. “Yes.” She makes a come hither motion towards both of them. Once they get close enough Sydney points a finger in Alex’s direction for the woman. “You’re for her.” She holds out a hand towards the muscular man. “But you are all mine.”

The woman moves towards Alex who is pushed into a shorter chair by Ashlyn. “No,” Alex holds up her hands.”I can’t.” 

Ashlyn leans down, “Just imagine it’s Tobin,... with really big boobs, and have some fun. She told you to have fun, right?”

Alex groans at her friends as the woman straddles her and she turns her attention from Ashlyn to the blonde. The woman grabs Alex’s hands and puts them on her hips as she rocks her body over Alex’s lap in time with the music, pushing her chest into Alex’s face. She glances over at Sydney who is pulling on her dancer’s tie, enjoying herself.

Alex decides to give in and turns back to Ashlyn. “Shots,” she says loud enough to be heard. Ashlyn grins and quickly goes to get the requested and required alcohol.

Her hands slide back, gripping the woman’s scantily clad backside. The woman smiles at Alex’s initiation and pushes her chest into Alex’s face. Ashlyn returns with three shots of colored liquid and Alex turns her head to throw them back one after the other, barely tasting them as they burn her throat.

Alex is amused by the dance, holding onto the woman’s warm sides as she grinds against Alex’s lap. The song changes again and the woman turns around in Alex’s lap as does the man in Sydney’s. She grabs Alex’s hands and places them on her chest. Alex isn’t sure what to do so she freezes until the woman tilts her head back and says, “Take it off,” while guiding Alex’s hands to the middle where the knot is loosely tied.

Alex looks over and sees Sydney’s hands are taking the man’s tie off. Her fingers tremble as she starts to work on the knot. Once Alex gets it open, the woman shrugs off her suspenders and pulls her shirt open. She stands up and straddles Alex again, revealing that she has pasties on underneath the shirt and nothing else. The woman grabs Alex’s hands again, starting to bring them up to her chest. 

As soon as Alex’s hands reach their intended location, Alex pulls back like the skin is scalding. She shakes her head and moves her hands to the woman’s hips. “I can’t.” She lifts her enough so she can slide out. “I’m sorry,” she says before forcing the chair back and stepping away.

Kelley comes and puts her arm around Alex’s shoulder to lead her away. “Let’s go get you a drink.” They get to the bar and Kelley orders for them. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d like that. I didn’t think she would get so handsy though.” They turn and look at Sydney who is unbuttoning the man’s pants. “I guess they’re both super touchy.”

“I didn’t mind the dancing but the touching was too much,” Alex admits.

Kelley nods. “I’ll tell Tobin it was all me and it’s not like you actually did anything. I was gonna have her dance with Tobin if she’d come but I guess it’s better she didn’t.”

Alex nods. “Yeah.” She knocks back the few sips in her glass and holds up her finger for a refill.

Many drinks later, Alex sits with Sydney, Kelley, Ashlyn and Ali in the back of the limo, getting even more drunk then they were at the party. Alex’s mind keeps drifting to the stripper and hoping Tobin doesn’t find out. She then starts to wonder if there were female strippers at Dom's party. Her mind continues to wander to Tobin’s hands and lips and how they had been all over her while they were dancing, in the pool, at the bowling alley, and this afternoon. 

Alex looks into her purse, pulling out her wallet. She moves from her spot near the door to the front and lowers the partition to tell the driver she needs to make a stop. They drive for a little bit more, everyone shouting out the windows to pedestrians about Sydney’s upcoming nuptials. They come to a stop and Alex climbs out. She looks into her bag to pull out her wallet, almost walking into a couple who part to avoid her. She trips into the ATM while her friends tell her to hurry up. She enters the first card, withdrawing the maximum amount before moving onto the next. She keeps doing this with her other three cards. She shushes the group calling to her from the car as she carefully enters her PIN. She then stuffs the cash inside her purse and stumbles back to the car.

They eventually get back to the hotel, everyone in the car is too drunk to care about the stack of money Alex had withdrawn. They all stumble into the elevator. Alex takes her heels off and takes her key out, smiling at the money before closing her purse. They finally arrive at their floor and after numerous hugs, split up towards their respective rooms.

Alex opens the door and sees the light to the bathroom is on with the door partially open so she can see. Alex saunters over to the desk and puts her purse and shoes down. It’s well past midnight and Tobin is passed out on the couch. Alex moves closer and stands over her, not sure how to make the first move. 

Tobin senses a presence and startles awake. She blinks up at Alex for a second. “You okay?” Alex softly shushes her and holds out a hand. Tobin takes it, not sure what is happening, and lets herself be pulled up. Alex starts to lead her to the bed but she trips over one of the couch pillows Tobin had kicked to the floor in her sleep. Tobin instinctually catches her, pulling her close so their bodies are pressed tightly against each other. Alex laughs at herself for a few seconds until she looks down at Tobin’s lips. She focuses on the slightly parted lips in the poor lighting and after another few seconds, she leans in, kissing her for the first time without any ulterior motive or someone else watching. 

Tobin’s hands continue to hold her close until Alex is pushing Tobin's shirt up and getting her first feel at the woman's bare chest. Alex hums as she brushes her fingers over Tobin's smooth skin. Tobin doesn’t argue as Alex backs her up and pushes her down onto the bed, shirt falling back into place.

Alex then lifts the dress she’s wearing up, over her head and Tobin watches attentively. The dress drops to the floor. Tobin sits up and presses her lips to the warm skin while holding Alex’s hips. Alex reaches down and pulls Tobin’s shirt up again. Tobin pulls back so Alex can pull it up and over her head. Alex reaches behind her back while staring at Tobin’s chest. Tobin shuffles back so her head is resting on the pillows, eyes focused on Alex as she lets her bra slide down her arms. Alex clumsily climbs onto the bed and over Tobin’s legs. She hovers at Tobin’s hips then hooks her fingers into her shorts and underwear and pulls down. Tobin lifts her hips and soon both garments are thrown to the floor. Alex finishes crawling up Tobin’s body and lays down. 

Tobin looks into Alex’s eyes, reading her expression before reconnecting their lips. She pulls back after a few seconds. "Are you sure?" she asks as her fingers trace patterns on Alex’s thigh. Alex nods and Tobin quickly flips them over, causing Alex to yelp with a smile. Tobin slides her hands down to Alex’s hips. She places her hand over Alex's underwear, feeling the warmth. She kisses Alex's neck as her hand pushes the fabric down. Alex holds the back of Tobin's head to keep her lips in place. Tobin’s fingers find the newly exposed skin and Alex lifts her hips up into her hand. “I want you,” Alex breathes. In response, Tobin quickly slips first one then a second finger inside. 

Alex momentarily starts to worry about what they’re doing but soon her mind goes blank and all she can focus on are Tobin’s lips on her neck and fingers inside of her. “Faster,” she begs.

Not long after, Alex flips them again so she's on top and starts kissing down Tobin's body. It takes Alex a little while of experimenting to figure out how to use her lips and tongue before she gets her first soft moan from Tobin. Alex applies more pressure and carefully pushes in a couple of fingers.

Tobin’s fingers grip the sheets and her hips start to rock. Alex reaches up and guides one of Tobin’s hands to the back of her head. The long, tan fingers make a fist of her hair as Tobin pulls her in closer. Alex can feel herself getting wet again as Tobin works herself up against Alex’s tongue. She reaches down with her free hand to rub her sensitive clit. Tobin’s moans start to pick up and Alex adds in a few of her own. Alex gets herself off right as Tobin’s other hand moves to the back of her head. The hip movements become erratic and less than a minute later they begin to slow. Alex pulls her fingers away and takes a long swipe of her tongue through Tobin’s folds, causing her to shiver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...was it everything you always wanted? What do you think will happen come morning?


	6. Friday

Tobin wakes up with Alex’s long hair tickling her nose. She slowly sits up, remembering the events of the night before with a large smile. She slips out of bed and begins pulling on the shorts and shirt Alex had removed the night before. She spends a few minutes in the bathroom then quietly slips out the door after checking to make sure Alex is still asleep.

When the door clicks closed, Alex rolls over in the empty bed and rubs the sleep from her eyes with a yawn. Her head hurt a little from the alcohol she had consumed the previous night but that was how she had been waking up the past few days. Her face contorts as she realizes she’s naked under the covers. She lifts them up to check and yep, not even underwear. Her mind starts to bring back the memories of last night, taking position between Tobin’s legs.

Alex immediately turns to the couch which has pillows strewn about like it has every other morning. Alex looks on the floor where she dropped her dress. She rubs her face trying to recall if her memories were real or a fantasy she had cooked up before stumbling into bed naked.

Twenty minutes after she left, Tobin carefully reenters the room with a tray of two coffees, a packet of Tylenol, a plate with two bagels, and a collection of spreads. Alex is sitting at the desk in a long shirt and underwear, looking at something in her purse. When she looks up and sees Tobin, she quickly pushes it back in and drops her dress over the bag while standing to lean against the desk to hide it, almost tripping during the process. 

“How are you feeling?” Tobin asks as she puts the tray down on the near side of the desk, glancing at the lump under the dress a foot away.

“Not that bad considering how much I had to drink.” Tobin picks up one of the mugs and hands it over, leaning in. “Thanks,” Alex says softly, avoiding Tobin's lips, “but I need to ask you something.” Tobin pulls back, having come millimeters from Alex’s lips. Tobin stays silent so Alex pushes forward with her question. “What happened last night?”

Tobin’s eyes dart between Alex’s lips and eyes twice then down at the tray. “Nothing,” she simply states while picking up her own coffee.

Alex nods, “Okay,” and steps around Tobin. She takes a sip of her coffee and heads to the bathroom. Tobin watches her go, hearing the shower turn on. She glances back over at the lump on the desk. She looks towards the bathroom door then pulls the dress away to reveal Alex’s purse. She looks at it confused for a second before picking it up. The clasp isn’t fixed so the contents slightly spill out. Tobin opens it further and sees a slightly disordered stack of bills. She pulls it out, counting the wad of twenties.

Tobin drops the bag on the bed and walks to the bathroom with the money. She opens the bathroom door and rips open the frosted glass shower door. Alex shrieks as she turns toward Tobin and tries to use her hands to cover herself. Tobin holds the money up. “Is this for last night?”

Alex’s shock quickly disappears as her eyes focus on the money and she fully realizes that it wasn’t a dream. “What? No. How could it be?... Nothing happened, remember?” She grabs a towel from the wall and holds it in front of herself.

Tobing puts her free hand on her hip. “If I was going to make you pay, I would have told you before anything happened. I explained that pretty well when we talked about it.”

“I… I didn’t want you to think that I was expecting it for free or that you would reciprocate… well I mean I was expecting you to reciprocate or else why would I have stopped at that ATM on the way back.” 

Tobin rolls her eyes. “Well just so you know, you’re four hundred short.” Tobin turns and walks out of the room, forcefully pulling the door closed behind her.

Alex scoffs and walks after Tobin, wrapping the towel around herself as she opens the bathroom door. “Hold on.” Tobin is turned away, putting a bra on, the money now tossed on the bed. “You’re telling me that  _ if _ something had happened last night I’d have to pay you twenty-five hundred dollars. That’s more than my monthly rent.” 

Tobin looks over her shoulder. “It includes...ya know.” She tilts her gaze down Alex’s body for a moment. “That’s the final five hundred bucks.” 

Alex doesn’t know right away how to answer while Tobin starts to pack her backpack. 

“What if I didn’t want you to do that to me?” Alex finally says.

Tobin looks back over with a smirk and shakes her head. She puts her bag on her shoulder and walks toward Alex, stopping less than a foot in front of her. “The five hundred is for you doing it to me. Trust me. If I had done it to you, you’d remember. It'd have been one of the highlights, for you. You’d remember it.” Tobin walks past her to the door.

“But nothing did happen,” Alex calls to her.

Tobin opens the door and turns back, “Exactly. That’s why you get to keep your money.” She walks out, letting the door close loudly behind her. Tobin goes to the coffee shop across the street to try and get an hour or two of work done before returning. She is able to answer a few emails but her focus is too hectic to allow much else. 

Alex is sitting on the bed, touching up her fingernails when Tobin returns to the room. Tobin ignores her, stepping around her on her way to the dresser to pick up the yellow linen shorts and gray, short sleeve button up they had pre-planned she wear to today’s picnic. She then walks into the bathroom and turns the shower on. 

Tobin spends forty-five minutes in the bathroom showering and getting ready. She comes out to find Alex in jean shorts, a loose white crop top, exposing a couple inches of skin, and her new baseball jersey completely unbuttoned. They spend the last bit of time before they leave on their phones in silence. In silence, they head down to the lobby and a few blocks down to the park where they had run a few days prior. Most of the group of college friends are already sitting around a few picnic tables next to the small makeshift soccer field. 

Neither tries to put on an act as they approach the group. Alex leads the way towards the table and sits down. Tobin sits next to her, leaving an unusual half-foot of space. Ali immediately grabs Tobin’s attention, asking her about writing and her job. Sydney looks at them confused and tilts her head towards Alex. Alex shakes her head and joins Kelley and Ashlyn’s discussion. 

Twenty minutes later, Dom jogs over to the table, “Would any of you ladies like to play a little soccer? We don’t have even numbers. We just need one more for six v six.”

Tobin looks to Alex who shakes her head along with everyone else. Servando comes up behind him with a ball in his hands. “See, I told you none of them would want to play. They don’t want to get dirty or break a nail.”

Tobin places a light touch on Alex’s arm. Alex looks over confused that Tobin is interacting with her. The look in Tobin’s eyes makes everything click. “You can play,” she says, remembering Tobin’s want and ability.

“Alright, Tobin,” Dom smiles, clapping his hands together. Servando looks at Tobin as she stands up and he leans to whisper something to Dom. “Yeah, fine. Whatever,” Dom replies, waving him off.

The three walk towards the group of guys standing in the middle of the makeshift field. Alex stands up, “I’m... gonna go watch.” She follows after them, the rest of the group stands and walks with her.

Sydney comes up next to Alex. “So did you guys get into a fight?”

“Yeah,” Alex admits. 

“Was it about the stripper?”

“No,... well sorta. I didn't tell her about that but it kinda stemmed from it I guess. I was drunk last night when I got back and I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“What’d you do?” Alex shakes her head, not wanting to or able to talk about it. “Well, how bad was it?”

Alex thinks it over as the group on the field sorts themselves into two teams, noticing Servando and Tobin are standing on two different sides of the ball. Alex sighs. “It was pretty bad. We got into it this morning and she left for a while.”

“She’s still here though right? So it means she’s willing to give you a chance to fix it.”

Alex shrugs.  _ She’s still here because I’m paying her to be. _ “Yeah, I guess.”

Kelley moves closer to Alex, unaware of the ongoing conversation. “Is she any good?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen her play. She played in college but got injured and I don’t really know where she’s at anymore.”

“Dom, Serv, and Bati get pretty vicious in their rec league.” They continue talking as the two teams on the field huddle together. Alex watches Tobin move towards the left side of the field, jumping around to warm up quickly.

Tobin stands in her spot and looks towards the ball with Jose standing over it. She quickly reaches up to put her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. Jose looks around and passes it back to Servando. Tobin moves to cover the passing lane as he boots it forward, straight to Tobin’s team. Tobin slowly jogs back, rolling her eyes as her own teammate passes it into traffic instead of the wide-open space around her.

Servando gets the ball again and starts to dribble it straight towards Tobin with a smile. Tobin takes a few steps back, focused solely on the ball as it and he gets closer. Tobin steps into the ball and gets a toe on it just as he’s about to push it to her right. She spins around him, chasing after the loose ball. She looks up as she dribbles, assessing the field. She spots Dom running ahead of her. She takes another step then sends the ball ahead of him. He meets it on the second bounce and volleys it towards the goal. Unfortunately, it hits off the crossbar. He holds a thumbs up towards Tobin as he jogs back. 

“So I guess she’s still pretty good,” Ali jokes from the other side of Kelley. 

“Yeah,” Alex nods, eyes focused on her fake girlfriend. A minute later, Tobin gets the ball again and starts moving forward. She passes it but gets the ball right back, the guys on her team now trusting her with the ball. Servando runs at her but she easily pokes it through his legs, unfazed by his presence. She sees Dom ahead of her and again crosses it in towards the middle. He jumps up, heading it towards goal. It passes over the goalkeeper’s hands and into the back of the net. Dom runs towards Tobin and gives her a double high five. 

The group of women clap, most subdued but Sydney yells for Dom, making sure everyone in the nearby area can hear her. Tobin continues making Servando look foolish as she moves the ball with ease, at one point flicking it over his head. Alex can’t help but smile at the annoyance on her ex-boyfriend’s face.

After ten more minutes of playing, Dom and Tobin’s team is up 3 to 1. The women on the sideline have mostly forgotten about the game and are talking more than focusing on the group running around. They’re about to head back to the table when they hear a yelp and look towards the field. About twenty feet in front of Alex, Tobin is on her back, holding her knee while Servando is running towards the ball a few feet away. Alex doesn’t hesitate as she rushes onto the field. 

“Are you okay?” she asks while she bends down. Tobin nods and looks down at her knee. Alex glances down too and notices for the first time the many old scars on her lower leg. 

Servando jogs over and looks down to Alex for a few seconds before looking at Tobin. “You good?”

“I’m fine,” Tobin huffs, pushing herself to her feet with all of her weight on her good leg. She takes a step but her knee buckles inward. Alex quickly moves to her bad side and ducks under her arm to support her. “I’m fine,” Tobin repeats with her eyes watering.

“I’m sure you are, but let’s have Ali check it out real quick anyway.”

Alex helps Tobin for a few steps before Dom and Jose take over and carry her to the table much to Tobin’s dismay. “Seriously, I’m fine.” 

“Can you slide all the way onto the table Tobin?” Ali asks, switching into doctor mode.

“Do I have to?” Tobin complains.

“Please,” Alex says softly. Tobin groans but pushes herself back with her good leg and moves so her leg is fully supported by the table. Alex sits next to her and puts her hand over Tobin’s.

“Why don’t you just lay down,” Ali offers as she looks at Tobin’s legs. “What are these scars from?”

Tobin lies back and turns her hand so Alex can hold it. Alex interlocks their fingers and brings it to her lips, holding it firm.

“I was hit by a car senior year of college. Tib fib fracture, LCL, ACL, PCL, uh I think there’s a few pins or screws in there somewhere too.”

“Jeeze,” Ali exclaims as she traces her fingers over the scars. “I’m surprised you can walk without a limp.”

Tobin lifts her head. “Took a lot of rehab and a really good doctor. Ah.” Tobin squeezes Alex’s hand tightly.

“Sorry. Did you feel or hear anything specific?”

“No,” Tobin says. “No pop or anything. I think it’s just a sprained MCL. It’s always felt left out since I injured everything else.”

Ali nods, ignoring Tobin’s attempt at a joke as she moves the injured leg, applying a light pressure. “I think you’re right, grade one at least, possibly grade two, MCL sprain. It’s already starting to swell. We should get a sleeve on it to keep the swelling down.” Ali looks towards Sydney who is a few feet away, talking to Dom and Jose. “Syd, is there a drug store nearby?”

“Uh,” Sydney looks around thinking. “Yeah.” She points behind Ali. “Like a block.”

Ali nods and looks at Alex. “Do you want me to send Ash?”

Alex looks at Tobin who is looking up at the sky. She stands up and hovers over Tobin’s face, smiling down at her. “Do you want me to stay?” 

Tobin shakes her head. “It’s fine.”

Alex smiles and runs her hand over Tobin’s forehead, pushing the sweaty hairs off. She leans down and presses a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Tobin smiles at her as she steps back and Ali starts to instruct her what she needs to get. Ali looks to Ashlyn and tells her to go with her. Ashlyn looks at her beer for a second, shrugs, then chugs it before standing up and walking over to Alex. Ali does a few more tests before she helps Tobin down to the bench portion of the table and propping her leg up on a bag. Kelley plops down on the opposite side of the table with her phone in her hand and a large smile.

“I Googled you some more.”

Tobin shakes her head. “Oh great.”

Alex walks back into the park, joking with Ashlyn. They carry the supplies of ice packs, aspirin, an ACE wrap, and crutches between them. Alex sees Servando standing in front of Tobin. He looks up as the two approach and walks away. Ali gets to them just as they reach Tobin, taking the supplies. Alex sees the inside of Tobin’s knee is pink and swollen. She looks down at Tobin’s face and can tell the writer’s not enjoying the attention and moves to sit behind her while Ali carefully applies the ice pack and wrap. Tobin leans back into Alex’s chest, relaxing as Alex puts an arm over her shoulder.

“You okay?” she asks softly. 

“Yeah. I’ve had worse.”

“I didn’t realize it had been that bad.”

Tobin shrugs. “It was a long time ago.”

Ali gives them instructions and says she’ll be back in twenty minutes to take the ice pack off and rewrap Tobin’s knee before giving them privacy. 

They sit in silence for a minute before Alex asks, “What did Serv say?”

“He like half-assed an apology. Pretty sure it was more for show than anything. Then he asked me a few bullshit questions about soccer.”

“He’s just jealous you were schooling him on the field.”

Tobin smiles, “I haven’t played in so long. It was fun.”

“You’re really good.”

Tobin glances around, “Yeah, uh I guess you should know so you’re not blindsided since Kelley just came over and asked me about it and I’m sure she’ll bring it up... I uh have kinda been to the Olympics and sorta have a gold medal.” Her voice trails off towards the end.

“What?” Alex exclaims loudly.

Tobin shushes her before replying. “I had figured you’d have found out from looking me up and then I forgot to tell you about it.”

“You forgot about it?”

Tobin shrugs. “I forgot to tell you.”

Alex shakes her head. “Explain better.”

“So the 2008 Summer Olympics was in China before my senior year. I was on the US national team an-”

“That’s more than just college players right?”

Tobin nods, “Yeah. I was the youngest.”

“So you were like really good?”

Tobin shrugs. “I was young. I only played a few games. I wasn’t a starter or anything.”

“And then you got injured.”

Tobin reaches up to hold Alex’s hand. “It was like two days after I got back. I was heading to my first practice of the season.”

“Have you played since?”

“No but I’ll kick a ball around and I do some stuff with the National teams cause I was friends with a few of them back when I was playing. I’m waiting for LA to get an NWSL team, the women’s league.”

“You could join a rec league or something.”

“My free time is when most of the general public is working and I don’t want to play with a bunch of wannabe actors who are worried about their faces.”

Alex hugs Tobin from behind and buries her face into the side of Tobin’s neck. “I’m sorry he was a dick,” she murmurs.

“Not your fault.” Tobin turns and Alex pulls back so they can look each other in the eye.

“If you want to go to an ER or something I’ll pay for it.”

“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.” Tobin nods, with a serious face. “We can just stop by the hotel first so you can grab the cash.”

Alex’s jaw drops, searching for something to say when Tobin’s serious expression changes and she starts laughing. Alex slaps her arm. “Not funny.”

“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”

“Try harder next time.”

Tobin shrugs and looks to the other tables where the group has started to congregate around the drinks and food, giving the couple privacy. “Can you get me a drink?”

“You probably shouldn’t drink if you’re gonna take something.”

“I meant water,” Tobin replies. “I need something to wash it down and I’m thirsty.”

“Oh, yeah.” Alex stands up and walks to the cooler.

“How’s she doing?” Kelley asks, turning from her conversation with Allie.

“Good. She doesn’t really like all the attention.”

“She might not like our attention but I’m sure she’ll like yours. You could give her some personalized attention back in your room.”

Alex rolls her eyes and pulls out a water. “You could get your mind out of the gutter.”

“She’s been watching you this whole time. Her mind is more in the gutter than mine.”

Alex glances over and sees that sure enough, Tobin is looking over at her with a smile. Alex smiles back and holds up a finger. “She’s just waiting for me to bring her a water so she can take her medicine.”

“So she’s waiting for you to get her wet and feeling good?” Kelley smirks.

“You’re disgusting,” Alex replies, walking away and holding up her middle finger behind her. Alex hands Tobin the water then carefully picks up her leg and slides around so her calf is resting on her lap. 

"What was that about?" Tobin asks as she opens the water. 

"Just Kelley saying inappropriate stuff. Nothing new." Alex traces a scar running down the inside of Tobin's shin. 

"Sorry I broke up the party."

Alex looks up and shakes her head. "That was all him. I didn't see the play but my guess was it was probably a red."

Tobin smiles. "You've become a little sports genius." 

Alex blushes and looks down, rubbing Tobin’s lower leg. "I'd be a bad fake girlfriend if I didn't at least try." They sit for a few more minutes in silence until Alex stands to go get them a plate of food to share. She returns with Allie and Jose who sit on the other side of the table while Alex slides into her previous position. She holds out the plate for Tobin to grab something.

The group eats in relative silence until Ali returns to remove the ice pack and Alex moves to give her room. "We're gonna catch a cab back to the hotel in a little bit. If you guys are ready to go you should come with us." 

Tobin looks at Alex, "We can stay if you want."

Alex looks at Tobin's bare knee which has swollen quite a bit and shakes her head. "No. I want to shower before the rehearsal. I'm going to go say bye to Syd."

"Tell her I'm sorry." 

Alex turns back to Tobin and moves to stand next to her. "I told you, this wasn't your fault." She bends down to kiss her lips. "I'll be right back."

Ali looks up at Tobin. “I'm not going to tell you what to do but I think you should rest tonight. You're going to be on your feet all day tomorrow and it's probably better if you stay in bed and elevate your foot.”

Tobin shrugs. “I’ll see what Alex wants.”

Ali starts to unwrap the crutches from the plastic. “Stand up for me,” she instructs, then adjusts them to Tobin’s height. “You remember how to walk on these?”

Tobin nods and turns to look for Alex but her eyes catch Servando first as he scowls at her. His arms are crossed with a beer dangling from his fingers. 

She ignores him and keeps turning until she sees Alex hugging Kelley and Allie. Ashlyn walks over to them and looks Tobin up and down then smacks Ali’s butt. “Good job, doc.” 

Ali rolls her eyes. “It was pretty easy. She diagnosed it before I did.”

Ashlyn leans down to kiss Ali’s lips. “You’re still impressive.”

Alex comes up next to them and stops next to Tobin, “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Ashlyn and Ali walk ahead to get a cab for them while Alex walks at Tobin’s pace. 

Back at the hotel, Ali walks Tobin and Alex to their room with Ashlyn following behind. Ali helps set Tobin up on the bed, elevating her leg with some pillows. Tobin sees Ali motion with her head at Alex to walk them out and can hear them talking quietly at the door.

Alex comes back a minute later and hands Tobin the remote. “I’m gonna start getting ready. Did you want to take a bath or something to clean off.”

“Uh, yeah. But you can go first. It won’t take me as long to get ready.”

Alex shakes her head. “You’re not going. You’re under doctor’s orders to stay in bed.”

“You sure?” Tobin asks. “I have the crutches and I can sit.”

“Ali said it’ll be better tomorrow if you rest today.”

Tobin sighs, “Okay. If you really don’t mind.”

Alex shakes her head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe he did that.”

“Typical guy.”

Alex nods to the bathroom. “Are you going to need any help in the bathroom. Ali said I should help you but she also told me no funny business so...”

Tobin adamantly shakes her head. “I’ll be fine. Now go shower.”

Alex follows Tobin’s instructions and heads to the bathroom. Tobin starts playing a game on her phone, wishing she had her computer but is too comfortable to get up. Half an hour later Alex walks out in a towel and looks at Tobin. “You sure you don’t want any help? You could change into your bathing suit.”

Tobin nods as she reaches for her crutches. “I’ll be fine if you can just carry my clothes in.”

Alex nods and puts on a bathrobe while she waits for Tobin to pick out her pajamas from the drawer. She follows Tobin into the bathroom. “You want me to start the water?”

“Sure,” Tobin sits down on the toilet and sets the crutches against the wall as Alex starts the bath. Tobin begins to unwind the ACE wrap and Alex walks over to help. Tobin groans but sits back to let Alex free her leg then watches her untie her shoes. Once Tobin’s feet are bare, she stops Alex before she can do any more. 

Alex looks at her for a moment before getting up and closing the door behind her. She stands with her ear pressed against the door until she hears the water shut off and Tobin slip into the tub.

Alex combs out her wet hair then starts curling it. Normally while getting ready, she listens to music but she keeps the music off so she can hear Tobin on the other side of the door in case she needs help. 

Tobin sits in the tub, looking down at the spot on her inner thigh where Alex had left a mark. She still doesn't know where they stand. They weren't currently fighting but Tobin knew that was only somewhat resolved because of her injury. They would probably still be ignoring each other if Servando hadn’t taken her out. The one plus side to the pain.

Tobin knew Alex was drunk last night but she also knew something had been developing between them since they’d first started talking. There’d been a bump when Alex figured out she wasn’t a man but it had been small and started getting stronger within two hours. Alex had told her there would be very little kissing but now Alex seems to kiss her every chance she gets. Tobin also noticed Alex's lingering eyes when she had been changing yesterday and the effect she had on her in the lobby, both were while no one was watching. Both were real, last night was real, at least they were to her.

An hour and a half later, Alex looks around the room one last time. Repeating her previous instructions, “Charge whatever you want to the room, movies, food, anything, and just tell room service to come in cause you can’t get up. They’ll probably knock but they have master keys.”

“I’ll be fine,” Tobin insists. “You’re going to be late.”

Alex stands at the foot of the bed, looking Tobin over for a few seconds before picking up her purse and walking out to meet her friends. Alex has to be refocused a few times as they go through the rehearsal for the wedding, her mind on Tobin. 

After the walkthrough, Alex sits down in one of the chairs as Sydney and Dom sign a few papers in preparation for the next day. She typing out a text when someone sits down in front of her. She turns and sees Servando staring at her.

“What’s up?” she asks, not happy with him.

“Checking in on Tobin?”

“I was about to. Making sure she doesn’t need anything.”

“She’ll be fine without you for a few hours.”

“She sprained something in her knee,” Alex states annoyed. “She can barely walk right now because of you.”

He rolls his eyes. “That happens to people all the time. She’ll be fine.”

“She already had knee problems,” she thinks about what Tobin had told her. “A career-ending knee injury.”

He scoffs. “She’s a writer.”

“Now she is,” Alex whisper shouts, not wanting to interrupt Dom and Sydney’s special moment on the other side of the roof, but fed up with him. “She was going to go pro out of college.”

“In what, a women’s league?” he scoffs. “What could she possibly do with that?”

“Let’s see, what could she do with that.” Alex had done some actual research on Tobin between getting ready and leaving. “Well, she won two NCAA championships in three years but that means nothing, she still could have sucked. She won something else too. What am I forgetting?” Alex taps her finger to her chin. “Oh wait, you’re right, she’s basically garbage because while in college she won a  _ fucking Olympic gold medal _ .” His jaw drops. “Which, remind me,” Alex starts examining her hands, one with a finger up the other a closed fist, pretending to try to count, “is how many more than you?”

She stands up and walks away, not giving him a chance to respond. Alex stops in front of Ashlyn and leans her head against her taller friend. “When do we get to have alcohol?”

“What’d he say?”

“He was just shitting on Tobin.”

“He’s jealous,” Ashlyn explains. “He obviously wants you back. He realizes he messed up.”

Alex glances back at him. “And you think I should give him another chance?”

“What? Oh god no,” Ashlyn answers immediately. “You’re with Tobin and he was a total fucking dick. He only wants you back because he realized he can’t have you anymore. Tobin seems fucking amazing. Nothing like him at all.”

“Yeah?”

“I think she’s good for you.” Alex nods absentmindedly, wondering what her friends thought of her before she began fake dating Tobin. Once the rehearsal is over everyone heads out to dinner. Alex ends up seated next to Dom.

“How’s Tobin doing?”

“Good. She ordered room service and is probably watching some soccer game right now.”

Dom nods. “She’s living the life.”

"Yeah." Alex glances at her phone, waiting for Tobin to text her back.

"So I looked her up earlier. Why didn't you tell me she was like... good at soccer."

"She didn't want me to tell you. She's pretty humble about that kind of stuff." Which at least was partially true.

"Once her knee heals you should bring her back so we can play. Use her as a decoy and maybe make some money."

Alex shrugs, "We'll see," and takes a sip of her water. 

"Tobin's really cool. She interviewed Lebron a few months ago and they were just joking around."

Alex nods, noncommittal. 

"Can she take you when she travels?"

Alex shrugs again. "We've never talked about it."

"We spent a lot of time talking yesterday on the boat. She really likes you. She couldn't stop smiling when she was talking about you. I think you’re good for her."

Alex smiles slightly. "What'd you guys do?"

"We spent most of the afternoon fishing, had dinner on the boat, then went out to a bar after."

Alex looks around the table. "Did you guys have… entertainment?"

"Huh...oh." he shakes his head. "Nah, not really into that. We were just at a sports bar."

"Okay."

"But even then, she wasn't looking at the waitresses. You have nothing to worry about."

"I know."

"I'm really glad you brought her and that we got to meet her. I'm glad you found someone who makes you happy?" Alex nods. "She makes you happy right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, cause I really like her and might have called this wedding off if not."

Alex laughs and pushes his shoulder. "Syd would kill you and I don't think you'd actually have a shot with Tobin."

"Yeah. You right. Tobs's too cool for me."

"And you're a guy."

"She could swing both ways."

Alex shakes her head. This is something she and Tobin had discussed on the plane. "She doesn't. She'd prefer Syd if you guys broke me."

A few hours later, Alex walks into the dark hotel room, turning to the bed to find it empty. She’s about to turn towards the bathroom door when she sees the glint of the crutches near the couch. She takes a few steps and sees Tobin awkwardly sprawled on the couch with her leg elevated up onto the back. She quietly gets ready for bed and then pulls the sheets down on the far side. She walks over to the couch, bends down in front of Tobin and lightly touches her arm, causing her to startle awake yet again.

“Come sleep in the bed,” Alex instructs softly. 

Tobin doesn’t argue as Alex helps her up and basically carries her to the bed, a very different mood from the previous night. She carefully raises the injured leg to prop it on top of a pillow. Tobin is unconscious in seconds, making Alex wonder if she was ever really awake as she walks around to the other side.

Alex thinks out a plan for a few seconds, then decides she should put a pillow between them so she doesn’t accidentally hurt Tobin while they sleep and also maybe so they don’t end up cuddled in each other’s arms. She wouldn’t be opposed to it but they should talk first. She watches Tobin over the pillow for a moment before settling into her own pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How will Saturday go? Will the wedding happen? Who won't be there?


	7. Saturday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to clear some things up that might not have come through in subtext… Alex totally knows they had sex. When she asked Tobin, she more wanted confirmation that it wasn’t some hyper-realistic dream because she was supposed to give Tobin the money before sex but she still had the money so she was confused. Tobin thought she didn’t remember at all and had just been uber blackout drunk. Wanting to save face she said ‘nothing’. When she looked in the bag she realized it had been planned, not because she wanted Tobin but because she wanted sex, hence the money. Alex fully registers that everything she thought might be a dream actually happened when Tobin barges into the bathroom with said money. They both keep the ruse up of ‘nothing happened’ while fighting but also both know and allude to the things that happened (Tobin said she was short $). Also Serv didn’t mean to injure her per se. He was getting angry, wanted the ball, and got a little aggressive.

Alex wakes up curled around the pillow she had used as a wall to separate herself from Tobin. The other side of the bed is empty. She sits up and looks around. The crutches are still near the couch but there is no sign of Tobin. She slides out of bed and finds the bathroom door closed.

Alex knocks on the door softly. “Tobin?”

“Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just shaving. You can come in.” Alex slowly opens the door. Tobin is seated on the edge of the half filled tub in her sleep shirt and a pair of pink underwear. “Did the water wake you?”

Alex shakes her head. “I don’t think so.” Alex walks to the toilet and sits down on the lid.

“You excited for today?” Tobin asks while continuing her task.

“Yeah. I’ve been ready for them to do this since they were like a year in. I’m honestly surprised it took them this long.”

“Some people are just meant to be.”

Alex looks at the back of Tobin’s head. She nods and mumbles, “Yeah.” Tobin washes off one leg with the water sitting in the tub. 

“So how was last night?”

“It was fun. The rehearsal part was the usual but the dinner was nice.”

Tobin nods and glances at Alex. “So uh, how did I end up in the bed?”

Alex smiles. “I didn’t want you sleeping on the couch with your knee. I helped you in.”

“Well thanks.” Tobin turns out of the tub. She pulls a towel off the hook and dries her legs.

“How’s your knee?”

Tobin looks down. “Not bad. Feels weird but pretty good. Better than yesterday.”

Alex stands to help Tobin up. They don’t drop hands once she’s on her feet. Tobin bites her lip and starts to lean in. There’s a knock on the door and Alex’s face drops. She moves away to get the door. 

Kelley pushes the door open. “Let’s go get breakfast, bitches!” She stops at the open bathroom door and smirks at Tobin. "Well _hello_. Thanks for dressing up."

Tobin rolls her eyes and walks to the door then past the two in search of shorts. Alex watches her until a smirking Kelley elbows her. Alex blushes and walks into the bathroom.

Alex splashes her face with water and gives herself a pep talk in the mirror before walking back out to Tobin putting the brace on her knee as Kelley asks her endless questions about her soccer days. Alex lets it go on, liking the sound of Tobin's voice and interested in the answers. That is until Kelley asks, "Does Alex ever have you wear it during sex?"

Tobin looks to Alex for help. "Kel."

Kelley holds up her hands. "Alright fine. Hurry up. I'm hungry."

The three leave the room for the cafe across the street. In the elevator, Alex loops her arm through Tobin’s before she has to disengage so Tobin can crutch her way out of the elevator. Alex sits next to Kelley so Tobin can prop up her leg. 

“So,” Tobin starts as she looks across the table of food at the two friends, “anything I should be expecting for this wedding.”

Kelley nods, sipping her cold brew. “Some shit is definitely going to go down.”

Tobin looks at Alex who shrugs and nods. “Yeah, probably.”

“No clue what,” Kelley continues. “But knowing Syd. She’s so drama filled. Something’s gonna go down.” 

Kelley reaches her hand across the table. “We’ll just sit back with popcorn and watch it all go down.”

Tobin smiles. “Beer too.”

“Of course,” Kelley nods. 

Alex smiles at Tobin and Kelley’s bonding. Although her relationship with Tobin isn’t currently authentic, she hopes it becomes real soon. 

An hour later, Tobin lounges on the bed, waiting for Alex to finish in the bathroom so they can leave. Ali had come by after breakfast to check on her leg. The bridesmaids are all getting ready in the building where the ceremony and reception are taking place but Tobin is already dressed in her slacks and button-up with the jacket hanging in the closet. Tobin has her phone and is ready to work while Alex gets ready with the rest of the bridal party.

Alex walked out of the bathroom freshly showered and wearing short shorts and a flowy tank top. Tobin's eyes take in the exposed skin. Alex notices but does nothing to stop it. 

"Ready?" She asks. Tobin nods and lets Alex help her up and look her over. "I like this suit."

Tobin smiles while gathering her crutches. "Thanks."

They make their way to the lobby then into a car with Allie and Jose.

When they arrive at the building they take the elevator up to the top floor. Jose goes to the groom's dressing room while the three women head to where the bride is to get ready. The table of food along the wall calls to Tobin and she heads over, making herself a plate. 

Alex holds two cups of coffee. "You can stay in here if you want or there's an extra room with tables and stuff next door. Much quieter so you can work if you want."

Tobin looks around the already hectic room. "Could you maybe carry my stuff over?" Alex nods and puts one cup down to grab Tobin's plate instead. 

Tobin sits with her leg propped up and Alex puts her food and coffee down. “I'll just be in the other room if you need me."

"I'll be fine."

"I'll come check on you in a little bit."

Tobin rolls her eyes. "Alex, I can occupy myself for a few hours."

"Maybe I just want to see you."

Tobin raises an eyebrow. 

Alex leans down to press a soft lingering kiss to Tobin's lips that leaves both of them wanting more. "I think we're going to need to talk about some stuff but that can wait."

"What stuff?" 

"Just about the week."

Tobin stares at Alex for a second before slowly replying, "Okay."

"Alright. I'll be back in an hour or two." 

An hour and a half later Alex walks in with her hair in curls and pinned up in certain places. "How's it going in here?"

Tobin looks up from her phone with a smile. "Pretty good. How's it going in there?"

Alex shrugs. "Hectic. I volunteered to go grab the bouquets and make sure a few things were in order. Mostly just wanted to get out of there for a few and maybe come see you."

Tobin smiles. "Want some help?"

Alex shakes her head but sets her purse down. "Hold onto this for me. I won't need it until after the ceremony."

Tobin nods and Alex walks to the door but turns before she walks out. "Tobin?"

Tobin looks up from her phone. "Yeah."

Alex had been planning the exact line she wanted to say since she saw the stack of cash in her suitcase this morning, but with Kelley there she wasn’t able to ask. "When we head back tonight, let me know if I need to stop at an ATM for the extra money." She doesn't wait for a response, instead just turning around and heading across the hall. Tobin stares after her slack-jawed.

Alex is looking through the boxes of bagged bouquets, making sure that everything is organized and ready. She hears footsteps come into the room behind her, she smirks but the voice isn't who she expects. “Can we talk?” Alex turns and sees Servando a few feet away. 

Alex stands up and turns to the table of photo booth props. “What about?” 

He walks over and looks down at Alex. “I feel like I owe you an explanation.”

Alex turns and places a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. You don’t need to explain.” She walks over to the window, looking out at the city. He walks towards her, rubbing his temples. “I should probably tell you that I brought Tobin here strictly to torture you.” He leans next to her and they turn to look each other in the eyes. “But then, I don’t know. I don’t mean this in a bad way cause we had some really good years but I’m done with you and me. So let’s just watch Syd and Dom get married, have fun, and eat some cake.” 

Alex steps back from the window and loops her fingers through as many bags of flowers as she can to bring back to the rest of the bride’s maids. He doesn’t say anything as she starts to head for the door but right before she crosses the threshold of the prep room he says, “I cheated on you.”

Alex stops walking. She stands still for a few moments before slowly turning and taking a few steps towards him. “What?”

“I...I’d been sleeping with other people for the last year and a half. It never really meant anything at first until I met Clarissa. That’s why I broke up with you. I thought she was who I wanted to be with. After you moved out I started seeing her but I realized that it wasn’t a real connection… not like the one we had. The sex was good but that was it. I asked for the move to New York as a way to reset but it’s almost over and I’m going back to LA in a few weeks.”

Alex looks down at the flowers as he continues to move closer.

“When I saw you earlier… on Monday. I realized that I’m still in love with you. I know you said you were over me but I had to tell you the truth.” Alex looks up slowly. “Say something.” Alex turns forward again and starts walking to the door. 

When she walks through the door, Alex can barely comprehend what’s going on, looking in a daze. Kelley, who’s in the hall, sees her expression and quickly hangs up the phone. As she gets to her, Servando moves into the doorway behind her. “Oh shit, he told you didn’t he?”

Alex looks up, betrayal in her eyes. “You knew?”

“Alex, I’m so sorry. I di-” 

Alex looks between them for a second then looks around, unsure where to go. She starts walking towards the side room where she, the bride and the rest of the bride’s maids are finally starting to get ready. Sydney walks out of that very door and the look Alex gives her along with the present company tells her exactly what was going on. “Alex.” She grabs Alex’s arm, trying to lead her towards the bride’s room. “Alex please do-” Alex pulls her arm away, cutting Sydney off. Alex veers towards the room Tobin is in. The writer looks up amused but her expression becomes serious almost instantly. She stands and opens her arms as Alex steps into her. Alex wraps her arms around Tobin’s waist. She finds comfort in Tobin’s arms, burying her face in the writer’s neck, until Sydney snidely asks, “How could you tell her today?”

Alex turns in Tobin’s embrace to look at Sydney who is glaring not at Servando, but at Tobin. She pulls back and looks at Tobin with confusion which turns to hurt as Tobin looks at her apologetically. Alex steps out of the embrace, looking at the small group standing around her. 

“You knew?”

Tobin takes a step back to give her space. “Alex, I…,” Tobin doesn’t know what to say.

There’s party music coming from the groom’s dressing room that is trying to set a much more jovial mood then Alex is feeling, making her feel even worse. She drops the flower bags, petals falling off and fluttering to the floor and pushes through everyone. She quickly makes her way around the corner in the direction of the elevator. Luckily the elevator had just let out Dom’s brother, as Alex rushes in. She pushes the button for the ground floor then triple taps the close door button.

The doors close just after Alex sees Tobin step around the corner. The tears start falling as the elevator descends. She wipes her eyes as she watches the floor count slowly drop. “Fuck.” She bends down with her hands on her knees. The tears are flowing freely by the time the elevator gets to the ground floor and Alex pushes her way out before the doors can fully open. She doesn’t have anything with her so once she exits the building she looks around, not sure where to go. She turns to the left and starts the ten-block journey towards their hotel. 

Three blocks in Alex hears Tobin call out, she glances back but doesn’t stop. Tobin hobbles half a block back trying to catch up, mostly dragging her injured leg. “Leave me alone,” Alex demands angrily when she can hear Tobin’s labored breathing right behind her.”

“Please slow down,” Tobin begs.

“I trusted you.”

“You can’t run away forever.”

Alex twirls around, Tobin almost running into her. “How could you keep that from me? You should have told me.”

“What was I supposed to say?”

Alex takes a shallow breath with her lips quivering. “You set me up to look ridiculous. You let me embarrass myself.” Alex crosses her arms over her chest. “You lied to me, Tobin.” Alex shakes her head, disgusted with herself. “But I get what I pay for right? I paid you to lie to everyone, and that included me I guess.”

“I didn’t lie to you. I was trying to protect you. You hired me to pretend to be your date for this wedding. To be your wall against him and all your friends so you didn’t have to tell them that you still weren’t over him.”

“Yeah,” Alex sniffles. “Maybe I _was_ using you to make everyone think that I was happy. My last-ditch effort to make everyone think I had found someone new and moved on. Cost me $10,000. I wish I could say it was worth it.”

“Go right ahead, Alex, hate me.” She roughly hands Alex her purse and carefully steps around her. “I’ll go pack my things and be gone before you get back to the room but you should go back to the wedding. Your friends were just trying to help you. They didn’t want to add any pain to the hurt you were already feeling. You can be mad at them tomorrow but you’ll regret it later if you skip.” Tobin takes a few steps then stops and looks back over her shoulder. “And now that you know Serv still loves you, you can go back to him too. Make the same mistakes all over again.”

Alex watches her walk away with a limp, the tears coming back and blurring her vision. She grips her purse tightly, holding it up, wanting to throw it but she can’t get herself to move her arms from their tensed position in the air. She looks back towards the wedding venue then in the opposite direction where Tobin must have turned the corner. She moves to the wall and leans her back against it for a minute. After thinking, she pushes herself up and marches back to the highrise where the wedding is taking place. She taps her foot impatiently as the elevator brings her to the top floor.

Alex glides back to the room where Sydney was getting ready, but now is hunched over surrounded by Kelley, Ali, Ashlyn, her mom and the rest of the bride’s maids. Alex clears her throat and everyone looks up. Sydney’s cheeks are tear-streaked and she immediately stands up. She runs to Alex and hugs her tightly while rambling, “I’m so, so, so, so sorry. I should have told you right away but I didn’t know how to. I didn’t want to send you spiraling again and then you were with Tobin and I thought it didn’t matter anymore cause you were with her and it seemed like you really liked her. I should have told you and I’m so sorry.” She pulls back to look at her best friend. “Can you forgive me?”

“Eventually,” Alex responds truthfully, “but I’m not going to ruin your big day because you’re an idiot. I’ll be mad at you tomorrow.” She gives a small smile and looks around. “You all need to redo your makeup.”

Sydney laughs and wipes her eyes. “So do you.” She steps into Alex, hugging her again.

“Me three,” Kelley sniffles as she shuffles over in her heels and adds to their hug. 

After a minute, the three pull apart and wipe their eyes. Kelley looks around. “Where’s Tobin?”

Alex, for some reason, turns to look behind her at the doorway then back at the room. She takes a deep breath. “Packing.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Ali coos stepping out of Ashlyn’s arm towards Alex. “Are you okay?”

Alex nods into her shoulder. “Nothing some eyeliner and a few shots... or a bottle of vodka won’t fix.”

Sandi starts pushing them all over to the mirrors so the makeup artists can rework their magic. 

Sydney reaches over from her chair to hold Alex’s hand. “I know you think she should have told you but she was just doing the same thing we all were. She accidentally overheard Dom and Serv talking at the bachelor party and he asked her to wait until after the wedding.” Alex shakes her head, not wanting to hear this, but Sydney continues. “She didn’t want to lose you. Dom told me she thought you were gonna break up with her soon. She loved you, we could all see that.”

Alex shakes her head. “No she didn’t.”

Ashlyn backs her up, “She might not have said it yet but she did.”

“Yeah. She told me at the pool,” Ali adds. 

Alex continues to shake her head. “No she didn’t. We…,” Alex takes a deep breath then spills the truth, “we weren’t even dating. I hired her to be my date. I… I met her for the first time on the plane over here.” Alex shakes her head and looks up at the ceiling. “I didn’t even know she was a woman until Monday and I just had to go with it.”

The room is silent and everyone stares at Alex with an open mouth. Sydney pushes away the makeup artist’s hand. “Can we have a minute?” she says to her mom and the two women. Sandi taps her watch as she closes the door behind them, then Sydney fully turns to Alex. “You what?”

“You heard me,” Alex practically whispers, looking down at her hands. “Don’t make me say it again.”

“She still liked you,” Ali says. “Money or not. I saw the way she looked at you.”

“And you still liked her,” Kelley adds. “Yesterday when she got hurt, your reaction was second nature. You didn’t have to think about going to help her because you were already doing it. You like her Alex.”

“I did but it was all an act. She lied about everything. You all fell for her act. I did too. She’s really good at it.” Alex looks up at the room, still not able to meet their eyes. “I was actually starting to fall for her.”

Ashlyn points towards the door. “Then go get her.”

Alex shakes her head. “No. It was all a lie. She just did it for the money.”

“If she was in it for the money wouldn’t she still be here?” Kelley asks logically. “Wasn’t coming to this the main reason you were paying her?”

Alex doesn’t know how to respond.

“You need to talk to her.”

“Call her.”

“Why? What good would that do?”

“You need to tell her it wasn’t an act.”

“It was... for her it was.”

Ali squeezes Alex’s hand. “It might have started out that way but the way you calmed her down yesterday, I see that with loved ones, not random friends. And how hurt she looked earlier after you took off. She was genuinely chasing after you, it had nothing to do with you paying her. No one’s that good of an actor.”

Alex huffs but pulls her phone from bag, mostly to appease her friends, and calls Tobin. It goes to voicemail after one ring. “She’s not picking up.”

Sydney stands up. “Let’s go get her then.”

“What?” 

Sydney grabs Alex’s hand and leads her to the door. “Let’s go get your woman.”

“But the wedding’s supposed to start in like three hours,” Alex stammers.

“I’m the _fucking_ bride. They can wait.”

“I’ll text Dom on the way. He already knows shit is going down.”

“And he was yelling at Serv earlier,” Kelley comments.

The group heads down the elevator and gets into the limo parked outside, heading for the hotel. They pull up and Alex rushes inside, almost getting hit by a car. She repeatedly jams the button for the elevator. The group of friends find a few empty couches near the elevator and sit down. An excruciatingly long minute and a half later, Alex stands in front of the door to the hotel room she had shared with Tobin and with a shaky hand, holds the key card up. The door clicks and she turns the handle.

When she walks in, the room looks almost exactly the same except Tobin’s suitcase and bag are gone from the corner and her stuff is out of the bathroom. She checks the closet which is now only half full. She’s about to turn around when she sees a folded piece of white paper on the desk with her name written on it.

She carefully unfolds it.

_I sent the money back but it might take a few days to officially transfer because it’s the weekend. I’m leaving today so either sell my ticket home or transfer it to Serv._

Alex trudges back through the door, note in hand, and down to the lobby trying to hold her tears in. She shakes her head as everyone stands and holds out the piece of paper. Ali reads it then hands it off as she goes in to hug Alex. They do another group hug around Alex. Alex wipes her eyes and looks at Sydney. “Let’s go get you married.” 

They soberly make their way back to the car and then back to the wedding venue. As they ride the elevator up, Kelley turns to Alex. “So wait… you guys didn’t have sex in the bathroom that first night?”

Alex starts laughing and soon they all are. They head into the room and start getting ready again.

With everything somehow seemingly running only a little behind schedule, Dom knocks on the door thirty minutes before the written start time. He walks in with a hand over his eyes. “Babe, can I talk to you real quick?”

“If you call off this wedding, I’m throwing you off the roof.”

Dom shakes his head and motions to the door. Sydney groans, picks up the sides of her dress and walks over to Dom. He tries to toe his way out of the room, still blinded. “You know I don’t believe in that.” Sydney explains reaching up to pull his hand down. It takes a little arguing before she is able to pull his hand away and he sees her for the first time. 

His jaw drops while Sydney pulls him out the door. “What is it?”

“Tobin’s in the other room,” he says quietly while holding up a leather wallet. “She forgot her wallet and we’re ' _looking for it_ '.”

“She’s here?”

Dom nods. “I also gave her her crutches back because she seemed to be in a lot of pain and they were just in the hallway. You should probably have Ali look at it again.”

Sydney reaches for the wallet and leans up to give Dom a quick kiss. “I knew I loved you for a reason.”

Dom smiles. “I’m getting married soon. Don’t let my fiance see.”

“You were pretty hot earlier, punching Serv.”

Dom looks at his bruised knuckles. “My fiance’s pretty tough too.”

“Well, she better look out cause your wife is gonna be a real piece of work.”

“Don’t I know it.”

Sydney walks back into the room and holds out the wallet for Alex.

A few minutes and a pep talk later, Alex walks into the second designated prep room. Tobin no longer has her suite on but is now carefully searching through a pile of goodie bags in soccer shorts and a plain black shirt. “Looking for this?” Alex asks while holding up the wallet.

Tobin turns around, eyes zoned in on the wallet. She straightens up and starts moving towards Alex, slowly dragging her bad leg behind her. Alex sees Tobin’s knee is swollen again, much worse than before, and walks towards her while pulling a chair over. Tobin shakes her head at the offer. “Don’t worry. I’m leaving. I just couldn’t get on a plane without my license.” Tobin reaches for the wallet but Alex pulls her hand back.

“I was upset earlier. Everyone but me knew this big secret that involved me.” 

“And one of them should have told you. That wasn’t my position. I didn’t know what to do when I found out and then we had sex which you seemed to promptly forget or at least want to forget the next morning an-”

“I didn’t forget, I just couldn’t remember if it was real or not.”

Tobin throws a hand in the air. “That doesn’t make it much better. I had no idea where we stood, we weren’t talking, then I got injured. It wasn’t my responsibility to tell you. One of them,” she motions out the door towards where Alex is sure almost everyone is trying to listen, “should have told you.”

“Yes they should have. They should have told me months ago but if they had, I might not have posted that ad. I would have never met you. I was going to let you go back to LA and never talk to you again but I realized something.” Alex drops the wallet onto the table and steps around. “I’m falling for you.” Tobin looks at her confused so Alex repeats herself. “I’m falling in love with you, Tobin.”

“Even though I’m a pathological liar?” she replies with bite in her voice.

Alex takes a small step back. “Have you lied to me?”

Tobin shakes her head. “No.”

Alex reaches out to take Tobin’s hands. “Then it's still you.” 

“What about Serv?”

Alex steps back in and puts a hand on Tobin’s cheek. She looks into Tobin’s eyes, softly saying, “I realized I was over him Tuesday at the pool. Wednesday I realized I was into you when I was jealous that you were hanging out with someone that wasn’t me. I don’t want him. I want you. I’d rather be fighting with you than be with anyone else.”

Tobin looks down at Alex’s lips. “You do?”

Alex nods her head before sliding her hand behind Tobin’s neck and pulling her in. Tobin’s hands hold Alex’s hips tightly but she pulls her head back. “Alex."

Alex shakes her head and pulls her back in. They keep kissing until Alex pushes in, trying to be even closer, and backs Tobin into a chair. Tobin winces and stumbles, almost falling. “Oh my god.” Alex steadies her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She helps Tobin into the chair. “Ali,” Alex calls, knowing she’s just on the other side of the door, listening, along with everyone else.

“Yeah?” Ali’s head pops through the door seconds later, not even remotely embarrassed.

“Can you look at her leg again?” Alex motions to Tobin.

“Uh, sure.” Ali walks in and over to Tobin. “Where’s the brace we got you?”

Tobin looks down at her leg. “In the Uber downstairs. I was going to put it on after going through security.”

“Ashlyn,” Ali calls back towards the door. Ashlyn pops her head in. “Go downstairs and get all of Tobin’s stuff out of the car.”

Ashlyn nods and disappears. “What happened?” Ali asks.

“I tripped on a curb earlier when I was chasing after Alex and I think it maybe got worse.”

“Where was the brace then?”

Tobin looks down. “It uh… didn’t fit under the suit and I was gonna use my crutches tonight but I left them right there.” Tobin points at the far wall.

Ali shakes her head as she starts to palpate and Tobin winces. Alex instinctively grabs her hand. Alex has to look away when Ali starts to apply pressure to the outside of Tobin’s knee, causing it to bend unnaturally. She squeezes Tobin’s hand in support and bends down the best she can in her heels and dress.

“Well,” Ali says after putting Tobin’s knee through a few tests, “I think you finally tore it.”

Tobin groans. “What does that mean?”

“I mean you’d need an MRI to confirm it but no activity for a while. I want that brace on all the time so you don’t tear anything else. You don’t actually need surgery to repair it if you don’t plan on being active. Depending on where the tear is it could possibly heal on its own over time. You should go see a doctor when you get home. For now, ice, elevate, rest, and keep the brace on.”

Ashlyn walks back in carting Tobin’s stuff. “Dude was so confused till I gave him a twenty and he seemed cool. Said he was still charging you.”

Alex looks at Tobin’s bags then up at Tobin. “Are you gonna stay for the wedding?”

“Oh, uh. Do you not want me to?”

“No, I do,” Alex gets out quickly. “I was just checking in case you wanted to go back to the hotel to rest.”

Tobin smiles then glances at her suitcase. “My suit is in a ball right now.” 

“We have an iron,” Ashlyn says, turning and walking briskly out of the room.

Ali looks at the two. “I’m gonna finish getting ready. I’ll send someone to get you a bag of ice.” She walks out of the room. 

Tobin points at her bag. “Can you bring over my suitcase?” Alex nods and stands. 

Once Ashlyn returns, Alex goes to finish getting ready and the two quickly work in silence on getting the creases out of Tobin’s clothes. Tobin then puts the brace on over her pants and Ashlyn hands over the crutches.

“So how much did Alex pay you?”

Tobin looks up at Ashlyn, slightly shocked. “Uh… That’s something you have to ask her,” she finally replies.

“Fine but I’m still sorta confused, are you an escort with a really good back story or what?”

“What did she tell you?”

“Well, she found you online and brought you here to make Serv jealous and to fool us that she’s over him. She didn’t say much else.”

“I’m the person I said I was, writer for ESPN. I just also subsidize all that by being a rent a date as needed.”

“So you’ve done it before?”

“Yeah,” Tobin replies, not wanting to give much more away. Tobin looks in the mirror as she buttons and unbuttons her jacket.

“Unbuttoned,” Alex says as she walks in, hair and make up fully redone. Tobin undoes the button and lets her hands swing back to the crutches so she can turn. Alex walks over and Tobin can see she has a bag of ice and a pink tie matching her dress in her hand. Ashlyn quietly slips out as Alex presses her lips to Tobin’s.

“Syd wants to start soon,” Alex says as she pulls back. 

“I didn’t mean to mess it all up again,” Tobin replies apologetically.

Alex shakes her head. “And again, it wasn’t your fault. Serv shouldn’t have brought that up today. Him and Dom got in a fight and apparently he left.”

Tobin tilts her head to the side, “Oh.”

“So Dom is down a groomsman and I know you’re not a guy, so if you’re not cool with it then that’s fine but they were wondering if you wanted to walk down the aisle with me.”

“Uh,” Tobin blinks up at Alex. “What?”

Alex chuckles. “Dom can go ask one of his work friends or I can walk down alone but he said you’re cool and he’s sorry about Serv.”

“Uh,” Tobin repeats. She looks over Alex’s shoulder. “Does he actually want me or does he just feel bad?”

“I think he actually wants you. He was hyping you up yesterday at dinner.”

“He was?”

Alex nods, “We can talk about that later.” She holds up the pink tie. “I kinda need to know what you wanna do now.”

Tobin focuses her eyes on Alex. “What do you want me to do?”

Alex looks down at Tobin’s braced leg. “Can you handle standing for that long?”

Tobin nods. “Totally.”

Alex reaches out and plays with a lock of Tobin’s hair that has fallen out of the bun. “Then I would like it if I could walk down the aisle with you but we’re gonna need to fix your hair first.”

Tobin nods, “Of course.” In five minutes, Tobin has had a quick rework of her hair, changed suit jackets that luckily match her pants enough to pass, and added the matching tie. 

Tobin stands next to Alex as the music finally starts. Alex looks over at Tobin who is standing up straight with both crutches in one hand, looking around for where she can put them down.

“Please use them,” she leans over to whisper. “You might not think you want them but the ceremony’s about an hour and it will allow you to take the weight off if you need to.”

Tobin sighs but nods. She positions the crutches under each arm just as they’re motioned to start walking. Alex puts her hand on Tobin’s back as they slowly progress towards where Dom is waiting. Alex glances down at Tobin’s feet a few times, worried something will get caught on the long sheet laid out. They eventually separate and Dom gives Tobin a gentle pat on the back as she turns around to face the altar. He points to a chair situated behind her in case she needs it. The simple gesture makes Alex smile. 

Soon the music changes and everyone stands as Sydney starts her progression with her mother. Alex tries to focus on the ceremony but she glances at Tobin every few minutes and each time Tobin is looking at her. She makes a face then refocuses on the ceremony. When Ali hands Sydney a ring, Alex reaches up and wipes her eyes. Tobin smirks at her the next time she looks over.

When the ceremony finally ends Alex lets the others pass so they don’t slow them down on their way out. “You’re ridiculous,” Alex says softly while she reaches forward to straighten Tobin’s tie. 

They head back inside, diverting to the bride’s staging room. Alex pulls Tobin in by the tie she had just fixed. Tobin stumbles a little but catches herself as Alex’s lips meet her own.

Alex spends most of the night on the dance floor. Tobin on the other hand spends most of her time at the long table overlooking the dance floor and watching Alex. Alex might be with her friends but Tobin can tell some of the movies she’s performing are just for her by the looks she is receiving. For the slow songs, Alex helps Tobin and supports her as they slowly rock back and forth.

“Guess I’m gonna actually have to start watching sports now.”

Tobin shrugs, twirling a strand of Alex’s hair around her finger. “I was serious when I said you don’t have to watch them, my exes usually didn’t.”

“Well that’s why they’re exes and if I’m gonna be at a game then I feel like it’s hard not to watch them.”

“I can’t really take you to the games I’m working.”

Alex shrugs. “I’m sure we’ll go to a few. Dom’s already invited himself to a few games next year so...”

“That so?”

Alex smiles and nods. “He was also kinda hoping you could introduce him to a few players but I told him that was a stretch.”

“When was this?”

“Last night at dinner. I wasn’t kidding when I said he likes you.”

“Okay.”

As the night comes to a close, Tobin and Alex ride the elevator down to their ordered ride. “So,” Alex asks, checking her hair in the reflective elevator door. “Do we need to stop at an ATM on the way back cause I want the deluxe package and you told me I didn’t have enough?”

“Shut up.”

“Also, why is it more for me to go down on you?”

Tobin shrugs and the elevator doors open. “It’s more personal on my end.”

Alex looks at Tobin as she crutches her way out. “So the base is to get myself off and it’s more for someone to do it to you.”

“Do you really want to talk about this right now?” Tobin asks, glancing over her shoulder.

Once they’re in the car, they are driven straight to the hotel, no detours or pit stops. The tension builds in the silent car which leads to them impatiently waiting for the elevator to open and let them out on their floor. They stare at each other through the reflective door, tormenting each other with each blink as they wait for the doors to open.

When they do get to their floor, Tobin barely uses her crutches, speeding up the walk down the hall. Alex gets the door open and practically drags Tobin inside and pushes her against the wall. The crutches fall to the floor.

Alex starts loosening the tie while Tobin works on the buttons of her shirt. Within twenty seconds both items are discarded to the floor. “Where’s the zipper?” Tobin asks.

Alex lifts one arm and Tobin reaches forward to pull the side zipper down, releasing the strapless dress. It joins the other clothes on the floor. Alex now stands in only underwear and heels while Tobin has a bra and is still very much covered from the waist down.

Alex bends down and carefully pulls off the straps of the brace. She places it down then undoes Tobin’s pants, pulling them down to her ankles. Alex moves to her knees and starts kissing Tobin’s smooth legs. She notices the mark she had left a few nights prior and kisses over it while hooking her fingers through Tobin’s underwear and pulling them down. 

“Think you can stay standing?” Alex asks.

Tobin gulps, spreads her legs slightly, and nods. Alex grins and presses her lips to Tobin’s thigh. She reaches around to hold the back of her legs as she slowly kisses up. Tobin places her hand on the back of Alex’s head and pushes her hips out. It only takes Alex seconds for Tobin to moan softly.

Alex smirks as she confidently uses her tongue to draw more moans out of Tobin. Tobin’s hips start to rock and the fingers start to close into a fist. “Fuck.”

Alex reaches up to Tobin’s chest and pulls on the fabric still there. With her free hand, Tobin swiftly reaches behind her back and undoes the hooks holding it up. It falls down and swings from the arm hold Alex’s head in place. 

Alex glances up. Tobin’s body is arched away from the wall to allow her hips more freedom. Alex reaches up again and pulls on Tobin’s nipple. The soft moan that’s been coming with each breath gets deeper. Alex keeps playing with her from her position between Tobin’s legs. 

After another few minutes, Alex drops her hand from Tobin’s back, since she’s being held in place, and slides it down her own torso. She finds the band of her underwear and slips her fingers underneath. She’s already wet. She’s probably been wet since the car ride over when Tobin’s hand was placed on her leg then slid higher, under the dress. 

Alex gets lost in the moment but is pulled back when Tobin pulls her away with a smirk. “Let’s move this to the bed,” she instructs.

Tobin steps out of her pants and follows Alex to the bed. Alex sits and looks at Tobin who motions for her to lie down while pulling her socks off. Alex bites her lip while Tobin climbs on top of her. Alex sucks Tobin’s clit into her mouth, resuming her previous actions. She can feel Tobin shift above her and place one hand under her head as support. She shocked though when Tobin’s fingers brush against her stomach and slip beneath the band of her underwear.

“Don’t stop,” Tobin moans softly as her fingers pick up where Alex’s had left off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what'd you guys think? Was the ending everything you ever could have hoped for or wanted?
> 
> I'm marking this as complete for now because I don't know when Sunday+ is going to be finished. If you have any specific wants for this let me know and I'll see if it inspires me.

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think so far?


End file.
